In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Pelicans hit two straight Lynchburg batters and followed that by issuing back-to-back walks in what would become a disastrous second inning, and the Hillcats avenged a loss in the series opener by winning 8-2 Tuesday.
Jodd Carter got credit for the Hillcats’ first RBI of the night after drawing a bases-loaded, four-pitch walk, forcing in Trenton Brooks, who led off the inning by being hit by a pitch.
Back-to-back singles, a walk and another hit by pitch gave Lynchburg four more runs before the inning was over.
The Hillcats (23-19) sent 11 men to the plate in the frame.
Bryan Hudson, the Pelicans starter, took the loss thanks to the Hillcats’ scoring onslaught in the second. He faced eight batters in the frame but couldn’t record an out before getting the hook.
Hudson (3-4) went just one inning, allowing five runs (all earned) on three hits, walking three and striking out two.
A day after allowing their five-run lead to evaporate, the Hillcats went on top, 5-1, and stifled the Pelicans’ chances at a comeback. After the second, the ’Cats added three more runs through the next seven innings, one in the sixth and two more in the eighth.
Luke Wakamatsu (1 for 2) made the lead 6-1 after the sixth on his solo, two-out home run — his first of the season.
The Hillcats piled on two more runs in the eighth thanks to Gavin Collins’ two-run single to center field.
Mitch Longo led the Hillcats offensively with his 2-for-5, two-RBI night. His first hit of the night, on the game’s third pitch, went for a double.
Lynchburg tallied eight total hits against five Pelicans pitchers.
Myrtle Beach, meanwhile, had seven hits. P.J. Higgins and Daniel Spingola each went 2 for 4.
The Pelicans (18-27) scored early, with a run in the first on Tyler Alamo’s sacrifice fly that scored Andruw Monasterio, who reached on a single to lead off the inning.
But the bats went silent for nearly the rest of the night.
Down 8-1 in the eighth, the Pelicans got a run back when Wladimir Galindo came home on a wild pitch by Hillcats righty Jared Robinson, but the Pelicans stranded their next three baserunners in the final two frames.
After allowing the Pelicans to get on the board first with Alamo’s sacrifice, Hillcats starter Justin Garza’s day was done early. He allowed one hit and the one earned run, and issued one walk, in 2/3 of an inning.
Micah Miniard (1-1) earned the win in relief. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking three and striking out five.