PENSACOLA - The Pelicans won a horserace of a game on Friday night, finally pulling away with a 7-4 win. The game was neck-and-neck the whole game, as every time the Cats took the lead, the Pelicans tied it back up in the following frame.
 
The Cats scored first, with an O’Sullivan single in the bottom of the second. Michael Bell followed him with an RBI double and the Cats scratched the board first.
 
The Pelicans tied it back up in the top of the third. Dallas Christison led off with a single, and Lester Contreras sacrificed himself to move Christison to second. Francisco Leandro notched a base hit that brought Christison home, and the scored was even at one apiece.
 
The Cats took the lead again in the bottom of the fifth, as both Chuck Carter and Brian Fryer scored. Yet the Pelicans tied it right back up in the top of the sixth. Leandro hit a double and scored on an Adam Darby single. After Antoin Gray singled, Darby moved up. Marcos Rodriguez came up and recorded a hit that was good for two reasons: one, it scored Darby; and two, it extended Rodriguez’s hit streak to 17 games.
 
Dane DeValk started for the Pelicans and pitched six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, walking none and striking out four. All four strikeouts were looking. Jae Jung started for the Cats and went seven innings, giving up three runs but two were earned.
 
With the score three-all in the bottom of the seventh, Tyler Wilson was pitching for Pensacola. Chuck Carter led off and singled, then moved to second on a wild pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Brian Fryer moved Carter to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Cameron Blair.
 

Once more the Pelicans tied it back up in the very next frame, as Luis Guance walked and scored on a RBI-double by Antoin Gray. The score was tied at four after the eighth inning.
 
Tyler Wilson pitched the seventh and eighth for the Pelicans, allowing an earned run on two hits and striking out two. Dustin Cameron started the top of the ninth on the hill for the Cats.
 
Lester Contreras started the final inning by reaching on an error by the shortstop. Leandro put down a sacrifice bunt and Contreras moved to second. The Pelicans took the lead for the first time when Luis Guance singled and Contreras scored. Guance stole second, and moved to third when Adam Darby singled. Antoin Gray reached on a fielder’s choice, but notched an RBI as Guance came in to score. Chase Burch followed with a single and Darby touched home to make it 7-4 Pensacola.

With Tyler Wilson’s first win hanging in the balance, Hunter Davis came on in the bottom of the ninth. After striking out the first two batters, Davis gave up two singles. He shut the door however, as Ryan Patterson popped up the first baseman to end the game.
 
Antoin Gray went 3-5 with two RBI, and Francisco Leandro finished the evening 2-3 with a double and a run scored and batted in. Both Marcos Rodriguez and Adam Darby went 2-5, with Rodriguez knocking in a run, and Darby scoring twice.

Davis earned his tenth save of the year, and the Pelicans won the first of this three-game series, 7-4. The two teams play again tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. Fans can follow the game live on NewsRadio1620 or online via SportsJuice.com. The Pelicans provide a link to the webcast on their website, www.pensacolapelicans.com.



 
 
Pelicans Next Home Game Info
 
The Pelicans are in the middle of a three-game road set against the Fort Worth Cats, but they will return on Tuesday, July 7 for a 6:35 p.m. game against the El Paso Diablos. The Pelicans will host a F.A.T. Tuesday: a $15 ticket gets All-You-Can-Eat from 6-7:30 p.m. For tickets and information, go online at www.pensacolapelicans.com or call the Pelicans at (850) 934-8444.

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