ZEBULON, N.C. - Keston Hiura delivered a walk-off, three-run home run in the tenth as the Mudcats defeated the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4-1 in front of a crowd of 4,268 on Friday night at Five County Stadium.
ZEBULON, N.C. - Keston Hiura delivered a walk-off, three-run home run in the tenth as the Mudcats defeated the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4-1 in front of a crowd of 4,268 on Friday night at Five County Stadium.
Hiura went 2-for-5 with the game-winning home run, three RBI and a run in Carolina's series opening victory against the Pelicans (20-28). His walk-off blast came with two-outs in the tenth and was hit off reliever Jordan Minch. It was also the first walk-off home run for the Mudcats (25-23) since Bryson Myles delivered a game-winning homer to beat the Winston-Salem Dash in the 14th inning on July 18, 2013.
Carolina led first in Friday's thrilling game after they got a run scoring single from Max McDowell in the second to take the early 1-0 lead. McDowell went 2-for-4 in the game with a double. He also caught one of two runners attempting to steal in the game, bringing his Minor League Baseball leading caught stealing total to 27 on the season.
The lone Carolina run in the second was allowed in by Pelicans' starter Bailey Clark and ended up being his only run allowed in the game. Clark worked through the fourth and allowed a run on three hits. He also walked two and struck out three. Clark was followed by relievers Erick Leal (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 SO) and Casey Bloomquist (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 SO) who went on to work through four straight scoreless innings before giving way to Minch (2-1, 4.22) in the ninth.
The Mudcats managed to get a runner on in the ninth against Minch, but did not score. Minch then went on to retire two in the tenth before giving up a Hiura's game-winning homer on a 1-0 pitch in the final frame.
Marcos Diplan started for Carolina and managed to hold the 1-0 lead through the fifth as he worked through five scoreless frames. Diplan walked four, but struck out five and allowed just three hits while holding the Pelicans scoreless. Braulio Ortiz followed with a scoreless sixth and seventh, but Daniel Brown later allowed a run in the eighth as the Pelicans tied the game at 1-1. Outfielder Luis Ayala had a two-out RBI single in the eighth against Brown and was 1-for-3 in the game.
Brown (BS, 2) gave up two hits and one run in the eighth and ended up suffering his second blown save of the season. He did return for the ninth, however, and went on to work through a scoreless inning while keeping the game tied at 1-1.
Luke Barker pitched the tenth for Carolina and ended up leaving a runner at third while earning his third victory of the season. Barker (3-0, 2.08) closed out the tenth with strikeouts of Tyler Alamo and Daniel Spingola while pitching around the inserted runner at second base to begin the extra frame.
The victory was Carolina's third straight and brought them to 4-1 in their current eight game home stand. It also lifted them to an 7-1 record over their last eight games. The Mudcats now lead the current four game series 1-0 with game two scheduled for Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. at Five County Stadium.
The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, the Big Dawg 98.5 FM and via TuneIn Radio at carolinamudcats.com. It will also stream via live video on MiLB.tv.
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