Hendrix slam leads Lynchburg to 7-4 win

Myrtle Beach intentionally walked Bobby Bradley in a 3-2 game to load the bases in the eighth inning, and Paul Hendrix made the Pelicans pay with a grand slam to left field to put Lynchburg in front, 6-3. The Hillcats went on to a 7-4 victory at TicketReturn.com Field Sunday night.

Yu-Cheng Chang started the scoring with a solo home run to left-center field as the second batter of the game to give Lynchburgan early 1-0 lead. That remained the score until Myrtle Beach plated three runs on three hits in the sixth, highlighted by a YasielBalaguert RBI double to give the Pelicans a 3-1 advantage.

Trailing 3-1 entering the eighth, Mark Mathias and Claudio Bautista singled to place two runners on with nobody out. Changsacrificed both runners into scoring position, and an RBI double by Anthony Santander drove in Mathias to cut it to 3-2. The Pelicans opted to intentionally walk Bradley to load the bases in front of Paul Hendrix.

Facing a two-strike count, Hendrix hit a grand slam to left field for his second home run of the season, giving Lynchburg a 6-3 upper hand in the eighth. It represented the second grand slam by a Hillcat this season. Bobby Bradley hit one in the May 2 suspended game to break a 4-4 tie against Potomac.

Lynchburg added its final run in the ninth when Mathias doubled home Daniel Salters, who walked one batter earlier.

Justus Sheffield cruised through five innings with less than 60 pitches, but he ran into trouble in the sixth when he surrendered three runs and left the game with two outs in the frame. Sheffield finished with 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on four total hits. He struck out three and walked the same amount.

David Speer (2-0) relieved Sheffield for 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win. Trevor Frank received a hold with one run allowed in one inning on a solo home run by Jeffrey Baez. Luke Eubank worked a perfect ninth inning, including two strikeouts, to notch his first save at the Advanced-A level. James Pugliese (0-2) blew the save and gave up five runs on four hits for the loss.

Lynchburg avoided its third “losing streak” of the season…The Hillcats have endured a four-game losing streak and one two-game losing streak this year…Outside of that, Lynchburg has not lost back-to-back games all year…The ‘Cats have a home run in four straight games…Their longest such streak this year is a home run in seven straight contests from April 11-17.

Lynchburg wraps up its four-game series at Myrtle Beach Monday night at 7:05 p.m. Mitch Brown (1-3, 5.60) will start for theHillcats. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with theHillcats On-Deck Show at 6:45 p.m.