Pelicans Out-Hit Air Hogs, But Lose 12-10

August 12, 2009

A day after the Pelicans came back from a ninth-inning deficit, the Pelicans put up five runs to find themselves trailing to the Air Hogs 12-10 in the bottom of the ninth. With Francisco Leandro at third and Antoin Gray at first and one out, Marcos Rodriguez hit a ground ball to Javier Brito at first. Brito tagged the base and threw to Berg covering second. Gray headed back to first but Berg threw to Brito, Brito tagged Gray, and the ballgame was over with the Air Hogs victorious.

The Air Hogs scored six runs in the first inning against Pelicans’ starter Adam Brandenburg. Brandenburg pitched until the fifth inning, allowing 11 runs (seven earned) on eight hits, with eight walks and three strikeouts. The Air Hogs’ Caesar Nicolas was the first batter to face Aaron Jackson, and though Nicolas hit a three run homer, the runners on base were attributed to Brandenburg. After that one hit, Jackson joined with Bubba Nelson, Ulysses Roque, and Hunter Davis to retire the rest of the Air Hogs without a hit, setting the Pelicans up for a comeback run.

The comeback would fall short however, as the Pelicans did score two runs in the first inning, the first coming on Kevin Reynolds’ home run as the first Pelicans batter. Leandro followed with a double, and after moving to third on Gray’s single, Leandro scored on Marcos Rodriguez’s sacrifice line-out to left field.

Pensacola added three more runs in the fourth inning, using a Reynolds’ base hit to score Lou Palmisano, and Dallas Christison and Reynolds both scored as well. Trailing 12-5 entering the ninth, the Pelicans chances looked grim, but then the hits came.

Chase Burch singled, Darby as well, and Lou Palmisano brought Burch home with one of his own. Christison plated Darby with a base knock, and Kevin Reynolds did the same for Palmisano. Leandro doubled to drive in Christison and Reynolds, and Antoin singled to advance Leandro to third. Marshall McDougall, signed today, flied to right field, and then Rodriguez hit the aforementioned groundball to first, and the comeback fell short.

The Pelicans can look to their 13 runners left on base, four errors, and 11 walks as reasons why the Air Hogs won. Still the Pelicans recorded twice as many hits as the Air Hogs, notching 18.

Kevin Reynolds went 3-6 with his first homer as a Pelican, driving in three, and Francisco Leandro went 3-5 with two doubles and two runs batted in. Antoin Gray went 3-6 with a RBI and Dallas Christison went 3-4, scoring twice. In his Pelicans debut, Marshall McDougall made a couple nice plays at third.

The Pelicans and Air Hogs play the rubber match of the series tomorrow, with Randy Beam throwing the first pitch at 6:35 p.m.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Sports