MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Behind a dominating performance by Kyle Cofield and timely extra-base hits, the Pelicans (85-48, 40-23) defeated the Wilmington Blue Rocks (66-67, 31-32) 4-1 in game one of a four game series.  The Pelicans are three games shy of equaling the franchise wins record of 88 set back in 2000.  In addition, the Pelicans are now 12,163 fans away from setting the franchise attendance record with seven home regular season contests still looming.

The Pelicans took an early lead in the second inning as Brandon Hicks connected on his 19^th home run of the season to give the Birds a 1-0 lead.  Hicks now ranks third in the Carolina League in homers behind Beau Mills (21, KIN) and teammate Ernesto Mejia (20). 

In the third, Gorkys Hernandez lead off with a single back up the middle.  He advanced to second on a throwing error by starter Mario Santiago.  Hernandez moved to third on a groundout by Travis Jones.  Then, Tyler Flowers poked a breaking ball into center field to give the Pelicans a 2-0 lead.

The Pelicans widened the gap in the sixth as Ernesto Mejia singled to right-center field to score both Jones and Flowers.  Mejia went 2-4 with two RBIs.  After recording just nine hits in the last two games of the Winston-Salem series, the Pelicans offense came to life with ten hits. 

Kyle Cofield, who wasn’t cleared to pitch until late in the afternoon, baffled the Blue Rocks in six strong innings.  He allowed only one hit.  Most impressively, Cofield did not allow a single free pass, while striking out four.  He currently leads the Carolina League in walks with 66.  Brett Butts, Ferdin Tejeda and Nick Fellman combined to wrap up the win for Cofield.  It was his first win since July 18^th. 

The Pelicans play game two against the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Monday, August 25^th at 7:05 p.m.  LHP Scott Diamond (11-2, 3.00) will toe the rubber for the Birds, while Matthew Kniginyzky (9-7, 3.56) will take the ball for the Blue Rocks.

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