NORTH AUGUSTA – The Augusta GreenJackets (9-15) fell short against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (14-12) on Wednesday night as the Chicago Cubs affiliate used a trio of home run swings to take down the GreenJackets by a score of 10-5.
Augusta started the night off strong by scoring three times in the opening inning as a wild pitch scored Francisco Floyd to make it 1-0, with Adam Zebrowski making it 3-0 shortly after with a two-run-double off the top of the wall in right field to bring in both Brandon Parker and Stephen Paolini.
That lead vanished in one swing in the top of the third as Kevin Alcantara launched a grand slam over the left field wall to catapult the Pelicans into the lead at 4-3.
The deficit was quickly erased on a solo home run by Brandon Parker in the bottom half of the inning to even the game at four.
However, Myrtle Beach would begin to take command in the fifth as they retook the lead on an RBI double by Matt Warkentin to make it 5-4 Pelicans.
An inning later, two more runs scored on a two-run single by Ethan Hearn to push the Myrtle Beach lead to 7-4.
In the seventh, Jacob Wetzel cranked a two-run shot deep to right field to put the GreenJackets in a 9-4 hole.
Brandon Parker attempted to bring Augusta back as he drilled his second home run of the night in the home half of the seventh as he pulled the GreenJackets back within four on the solo home run.
But that run was answered immediately by Ethan Hearn who delivered a solo home run of his own to make it a 10-5 game, and the Pelicans would go on to win by that score to force a split in the first two games of the series.
Chase Watkins (2-1) earned the win in relief for Myrtle Beach with Rainiery Rodriguez (1-2) taking the loss for Augusta.
Brandon Parker was the top performer on Wednesday night with a three-hit performance as he reach four more times to follow up his strong game in the series opener. Adam Zebrowski produced two more RBIs with his two-run double in the first while Francisco Floyd added two hits in the game for his fourth multi-hit game with the GreenJackets.
The series continues on Thursday night with Luis Vargas toeing the slab for Augusta versus Luke Little for Myrtle Beach with the opening pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at SRP Park.
