LYNCHBURG, Va. (June 21, 2018) – Alex Lange fired six excellent innings Thursday, but the Myrtle Beach Pelicans were one-hit in a 1-0 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats from Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium.
Lynchburg (30-38, 1-0) starter Eli Morgan (3-2) matched a career-high with nine strikeouts in six no-hit innings, yielding just a walk to Connor Myers in the third. It took Myrtle Beach (34-37, 0-1) until two outs in the eighth for Andruw Monasterio to muster the club’s first hit with a triple. However, Ben Krauth stranded Monasterio on third and James Karinchak pitched a hitless ninth for his sixth save.
Lange (4-4) yielded only a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to Mitch Longo. The right-hander whiffed seven against two walks in six frames, surrendering just four hits. Erick Leal and Jose Paulino each pitched a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
The loss was the Pelicans’ eighth in the last nine games, and the Birds have plated two runs or fewer in eight consecutive contests.
RHP Cory Abbott (1-1, 4.50 ERA) starts for Myrtle Beach in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. contest against Hillcats RHP Zach Plesac (4-3, 4.98 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
