SALEM, VA (WBTW) — The Myrtle Beach Pelicans could not hold a one-run lead late as the Salem Red Sox won 3-2 on a walk-off double from Kole Cottam to complete the sweep of the Birds on Sunday from Haley Toyota Field.
After Pelicans (32-30, 53-76) starter Alexander Vargas tossed a pair of scoreless innings to open the ballgame, the Red Sox (35-27, 60-69) got to the right hander in the third. Tanner Nishioka led the inning off with a single and following a double from Grant Williams, Garrett Benge drove in the first run of the game for Salem with an RBI single to right that made it 1-0.
Andrew Politi, a spot starter for Salem, tossed five hitless innings and struck out five before he exited in favor of Dylan Thompson in the sixth.
After Thompson retired the first batter of the frame, he walked Kevonte Mitchell and surrendered singles to Delvin Zinn and Carlos Sepulveda , the bases were loaded for Cam Balego. Balego chopped a ball off of Thompson’s glove, reached first on an infield single and Mitchell scored to tie the game at 1-1.
In the top of the ninth inning, Thompson retired the first two batters before he allowed a two-out base hit to Luke Reynolds, who scored on a Grant Fennell double and the Pelicans took a 2-1 lead in the ninth.
Ethan Roberts (L, 1-2) entered in the ninth for the Pelicans and he allowed back-to-back one-out doubles to Ryan Fitzgerald and Devlin Granberg, tying the game at 2-2 in the ninth. Then, with two on and one out in the frame, Cottam lined a ball off the right field wall and Granberg came in to score the winning run as the Red Sox completed the sweep with a 3-2 walk-off win.
The Pelicans continue their 11-game road trip on Monday as they take on the Potomac Nationals for the first of four games at 7:05 p.m. LHP Brailyn Marquez (3-0, 0.59) will take the hill for the Birds against LHP Tim Cate (5-4, 3.54) for the Nationals in the series opener. Coverage starts at 6:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps.
