Myers' heroics lead Birds to walk-off win over Muddies

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (August 27, 2017) - Connor Myers ' 10th inning walk-off single gave the Myrtle Beach Pelicans a 6-5 win over the Carolina Mudcats in the final home game of the regular season at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
With Myrtle Beach (71-62, 28-35) trailing Carolina (66-65, 30-33) 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Birds' offense rallied against Mudcats reliever Luke Barker (1-1). Tyler Alamo kicked off the frame with a base hit to right field before advancing to second on a walk from Eddy Martinez. Tyler Pearson reached on an error to load the bases for the Pelicans. Roberto Caro worked the second walk of the inning, scoring Alamo to tie the game at five. Myers then singled through a drawn-in infield to give the Birds a 6-5 walk off victory over Carolina. The Pelicans notched their first walk-off of the second half of the season.

Myrtle Beach had to initially respond to a 4-1 deficit in the eighth inning. With one man retired, Trent Giambrone  singled to center field and Vimael Machin walked. Jesse Hodges singled to right field to plate Giambrone. Myrtle Beach's second run of the frame scored on a wild pitch, which made the score 4-3.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Adonis Paula ripped a pinch-hit single to right field before Caro entered the contest as a pinch-runner. Myers doubled to right-center field, allowing Caro to advance to third before Giambrone's third hit of the game tied the contest at four. 
With two men retired in the top of the 10th inning, Lucas Erceg doubled and advanced to third on an error. He then scored on a wild pitch to give the Mudcats their third lead of the game at 5-4.
Carolina kicked off the scoring in the top of the first inning. Trent Clark reached on a walk before Corey Ray singled to put two men on base. With one man retired in the frame, Erceg drew a walk to load the bases. Cooper Hummel's RBI groundout plated Clark to put the Muddies up 1-0. 
With the same tally in the fourth, Hodges kicked off the frame with a triple to center field. He scored on Alamo's RBI groundout to tie the game at one. 
Myrtle Beach starter Thomas Hatch was stellar. The right-hander tossed five innings and yielded just one run on two hits over five innings of work. 
With the score still tied at one in the seventh, Luis Aviles singled to center field before advancing all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt from Weston Wilson. The Mudcats took their second lead of the contest on a Jose Cuas single, driving home Aviles to make the score 2-1. 
Back-to-back doubles from Ray and Monte Harrison to begin the eighth inning stretched the Muddies lead to 3-1. Erceg brought home the second run of the frame with an RBI single to bring in Harrison. 
Marcos Diplan stifled the Pelicans offense for 6.2 innings, as the right-hander allowed just one run while striking out six.
Pedro Araujo (5-1) allowed one unearned run while punching out four batters in 1.1 frames to earn the win.
Myrtle Beach will have an off day on Monday before beginning a three-game set against the Buies Creek Astros in Lillington, N.C., with a 7p.m. first pitch on Tuesday. Coverage will begin at 6:45 on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app. 
The 2017 season is the 19th season for the Pelicans franchise and third as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2017, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.
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. The park has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in each of the last six seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences in all of sports in each of the last six years and the best in the Carolina League for six straight seasons as well. In May 2015, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2015 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans are the two-time defending Mills Cup Champions, winning the title in 2015 and 2016 as well as 2000 and co-Mills Cup championship honors in the inaugural 1999 season. The Pelicans have made ten postseason appearances behind 12 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season and second half of 2016. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or emailing [email protected]