MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The Fireflies rallied for four runs in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough, as the Pelicans won in walk-off fashion 8-7 Friday night at Pelicans Ballpark.
The Pelicans came back in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ty Southisene and Michael Carico drew walks to set up the inning and then Logan Poteet singled to third base to plate Southisene and give the Pelicans their fourth-consecutive win.
The Pelicans committed three of their five errors on the night in the seventh inning to jump-start the Fireflies offense. Connor Rasmussen had the big single that plated both Roni Cabrera and Jhosmmel Zue to rally the Fireflies to within one run. The next play, Henry Ramos reached on a fielding error that allowed Rasmussen to trot around from third base to tie the game 6-6. Later in the frame, Stone Russell laced a single to left field that plated Hammond to give the Fireflies their first lead since the second inning.
Zue finished the night 3-4 with two runs scored. The three hits were his most this season.
The lead didn’t last long. Jose Escobar tripled to score Michael Carico in the home half of the seventh to tie the game 7-7.
The Fireflies got the scoring started in the top of the first inning. Josh Hammond drew a walk and stole second before Brooks Bryan slugged a double to right field to plate Hammond and give the Fireflies a 1-0 lead.
Darwin Rodriguez worked four innings and allowed four unearned runs in the start. All four runs scored after a throwing error from Rasmussen in the second. He struck out six Pelicans before passing the ball to Michael Lombardi and the Fireflies bullpen.
Lombardi allowed three runs over 4.1 innings before Jhon Reyes came on and allowed the single to Poteet to end the game.
Columbia continues their series with the Pelicans tomorrow night at Pelicans Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Shane Van Dam (1-1, 5.54 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Dominick Reid (0-2, 4.91 ERA).
The Fireflies return home May 12 for a six-game series with the Hickory Crawdads. The homestand will include Touch a Truck Night, May 15 with big rigs throughout the ballpark and a hard hat giveaway for the first 1,000 in attendance thanks to E.F. Martin. The club will also host Star Wars Night presented by O.B. One Communications Saturday, May 16. Stick around post-game for a galactic fireworks show. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.