Rose helps Birds walk-off with 7-6 victory

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 2, 2017) - Myrtle Beach capped a wild comeback Friday with Matt Rose's walk-off home run to beat the Down East Wood Ducks 7-6 in 10 innings at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
After Myrtle Beach (30-25) tied the contest in the ninth, the Birds would then walk it off on Down East (21-33) in the 10th. With one out in the bottom of the frame, Rose lasered a line drive home run over the left-field wall against Tyler Ferguson (0-1) to give the Pelicans their third walk-off victory of the season. 

Myrtle Beach trailed 6-2 going to the bottom of the eight. P.J. Higgins  was hit by a pitch leading off the frame. The Pelicans' four-run deficit would be cut in half when Eloy Jimenez launched a two-run home run over the left field bleachers. 
With the score 6-4, Myrtle Beach continued their relentless rally in the ninth. Robert Garcia kicked off the frame with a base hit before advancing to third on consecutive groundouts. Higgins would lace his season-high third hit of the contest, scoring Garcia, which brought the Pelicans within a run of the Woodies. With two outs in the frame, Jimenez struck again with a game-tying double to left field, scoring Higgins from first base and sending the contest to extra innings for the second time in the series.  
Pedro Araujo  (2-0) pitched a scoreless top of the tenth inning to set up Rose's walk-off in the bottom of the frame. With the victory, the Birds moved into second place in the Southern Division and matched a season-best five games over .500.
With the score tied at zero in the second, Myrtle Beach drew first blood. Trent Giambrone singled with one out in the frame before stealing second base. With two outs in the frame, Connor Myers delivered with a base hit to left, scoring Giambrone and giving the Pelicans the 1-0 advantage. 
The Wood Ducks would strike back with a run of their own in the third. Brallan Perez jumpstarted the frame with a base hit, and then advanced to second on a sac bunt from Arturo Lara. With two outs in the inning, LeDarious Clark singled to left field to bring in Perez and tie the game at one. 
Perez would pick up his second hit of the game when he led off the fifth inning with a single. He stole second before coming home to score on a Clark double with two outs in the frame. Josh Morgon tacked on another with a base hit to right, which made it a 3-1 game. 
With one out in the seventh, Matt Lipka reached on a bunt single. Lipka swiped second, and then reached third on a balk. Clark drove in his third run of the contest with a base hit to left field that scored Lipka to make it a 4-1 Wood Ducks advantage. 
Myrtle Beach would bite into the lead with a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Giambrone laced a one-out double to left and moved to third on a base hit from Robert Garcia . An RBI single from Myers brought the Pelicans within two runs.
Josh Altmann led off the eighth with a walk. Preston Scott then lasered a two-run homer to extend the Down East lead to 6-2.
Myrtle Beach will look win the series tomorrow with RHP Thomas Hatch (0-5, 5.19 ERA) on the mound. First pitch for Saturday's game will be at 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 7:00 on the CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast starts at 6:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
Saturday's contest will feature Star Wars Night, with 28 movie characters on hand at TicketReturn.Com Field. Tomorrow's matchup will also include a special Postgame Fireworks Extravaganza courtesy of East Coast Pyrotechnics. 
 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].