Kelly and Sullivan lead Stone Crabs to 6-5 comeback win

LAKELAND, Fla. (May 3, 2017) - Brett Sullivan and Dalton Kelly both picked up three hits Wednesday to lead the Stone Crabs to their largest comeback victory of the season, a 6-5 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers at Publix Field.
With Charlotte (12-14) trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, Kelly doubled to the wall in left center before Peter Maris singled up the middle to tie the game.
The Flying Tigers (14-13) rallied for four runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning to open a 5-1 lead.
Down by four in the top of the sixth, Stone Crabs second baseman Brandon Lowe singled before Sullivan doubled to the wall in left to plate Lowe and make it 5-2. Ryan Boldt followed by pulling a triple into the right field corner which scored Sullivan to trim the Lakeland lead to 5-3. After a pitching change, David Olmedo-Barrera flew out to left to bring in Boldt and draw the score to 5-4.
Still trailing by one in the top of the eighth, Sullivan singled to right before Boldt walked. After a flyout, David Rodríguez lofted a single to right to score Sullivan and tie the game at five. With runners at first and second and one out, Kelly rolled a grounder to first. The throw went to second to get Rodriguez, but the relay attempt bounced past the pitcher Waldis Joaquin (0-1) and allowed Boldt to score the go-ahead run.
Noel Rodriguez worked a scoreless eighth before Drew Smith pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save of the season.
The four-run comeback is the Stone Crabs' largest of the year.
Starting pitcher Blake Bivens (2-2) went seven innings to earn the win. Bivens surrendered four earned runs on eight hits while fanning six.
The Stone Crabs will go for the four-game sweep Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Coverage begins at 10:15 a.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.