Pereda the hero in Birds' walk-off winner

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 1, 2018) - Jhonny Pereda highlighted a late come-from-behind win for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Tuesday with a walk-off three-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Mudcats from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
In the ninth inning, Carolina (11-14) reliever Chase Williams (2-3) walked the bases loaded, three of the 11 free passes on the night that the Pelicans (10-15) drew. That brought up Pereda, who, on a 3-2 pitch, lined a ball over the glove of Ryan Aguilar in center field that brought home all three runners to win the game for Myrtle Beach. 

After the Mudcats (11-14) had rattled off four early runs, the Pelicans' bullpen took over. Tyler Peyton tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three. Jordan Minch (1-0) was brilliant for the Pelicans in relief as well. The left-hander retired all six batters he faced in his two innings of work, including striking out the side in the ninth to earn his first career win.
Keegan Thompson tied a career-high with seven strikeouts in his five innings. 
In the first inning, the Mudcats jumped out in front with two runs on RBI knocks from Tucker Neuhaus and Weston Wilson. They added on two more in the second with a two-run shot from Keston Hiura to make it 4-0. 
The Pelicans fought back with an RBI single in the third inning from Vimael Machin . Tyler Alamo blasted his fourth home run of the year in the sixth to draw Myrtle Beach to within 4-2. 
The Pelicans host the Carolina Mudcats for game two of the three-game series on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. RHP Tyson Miller (2-2, 3.15 ERA) takes the ball for Myrtle Beach against Muddies LHP Cam Roegner (2-0, 0.83 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app. 
Wednesday's contest is a Wiener Wednesday presented by Hebrew National, meaning fans can enjoy buy-one-get-one-free hot dogs all night long at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
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. The park 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 as well. In June 2017, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans have 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 emailing [email protected].