Myrtle Beach falls 5-4 in close bout with Wilmington

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (August 11, 2018) - Despite a three-hit, two-RBI night from Jared Young , the Myrtle Beach Pelicans were dropped 5-4 on Saturday night by the Wilmington Blue Rocks from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
The Pelicans (51-66, 17-30) struck first in the bottom of the first inning off of Blue Rocks (60-57, 29-12) starter Andres Sotillet (2-3). D.J. Wilson and Zach Davis collected back-to-back singles before Young plated Wilson with an RBI ground out. Andruw Monasterio then knocked home Davis with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. 

The Blue Rocks answered back immediately with three runs in the top of the second inning. Angelo Castellano and Nate Esposito ripped back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game and Oliver Nunez gave Wilmington the lead when he bounced into an RBI fielder's choice.
Already leading 3-2, the Blue Rocks tacked on in the top of the fifth on a D.J. Burt RBI ground out. However, the Pelicans came back to tie it in the bottom of the inning. With Davis at third, Jhonny Pereda fit a line drive just inside first base to draw the Birds within one. Young then laced an RBI single of his own to even the score at four. 
In the top of the seventh, Manuel Rondon (0-3) entered for the Pelicans. Nunez singled to short with one out, stole second and advanced to third when the throw skipped into center before coming home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. 
The Pelicans turned in 16 hits, but left 11 on and went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. 
The Pelicans meet Wilmington on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. for the rubber game of the series. The Birds send LHP Justin Steele (0-1, 3.38 ERA) to the mound against Wilmington RHP Ofreidy Gomez (4-9, 3.88 ERA). Television coverage begins at 6 p.m. on The CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast starts at 5:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn. 
Sunday's game is Rollback Night with tickets starting at $5, $2 hot dogs and 16 oz. sodas, $4 24 oz. domestic draft beer until 8 p.m., $2.50 popcorn, $3 pretzels and $6 hats. In addition, it is Superhero Night and an Ultimate Kids Sunday featuring free inflatables, face painting, balloon artists and a pregame on-field catch. 
The 2018 season is the 20th season for the Pelicans franchise and fourth as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For tickets visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/tickets, call (843) 918-6000, or visit the Pelicans Box Office.
ABOUT THE PELICANS: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and play their home games at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in six of the last seven seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences and the best in the Carolina League for six of the past seven seasons. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has won four Mills Cup Championships, including claims to back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2015 and 2016. The Pelicans have made 11 postseason appearances behind 13 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, second half of 2016 and first half of 2017. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or email [email protected].