Hillcats drop pitchers’ duel

Lynchburg starter, Adam Plutko turned in another good outing on Sunday afternoon, but the Hillcats offense couldn’t get much going and Plutko took his second tough luck loss of the season.

Myrtle Beach struck first in the fourth inning on a solo home run from Billy McKinney over the right field wall. McKinney’s shot was only the second hit of the game off Plutko.

Plutko turned in another quality start for the Hillcats, going 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on six hits. He had four one-two-three innings, but surrendered another run in the seventh when he allowed four hits. The quality start is his fourth in five opportunities to start the season.

Not to be outdone, Pelicans starter, Tyler Skulina, went six shutout innings and only allowed one hit, an infield single by Eric Haase in the fifth.Skulina also struck out a career-high eight hitters. Paul Hendrix followed Haase’s hit with a walk, but the Hillcats left the two men on.

Plukto gave way to Nick Pasquale in the seventh with the bases loaded. Pasquale got Daniel Lockhart to line into a double play to end the threat and keep the deficit at two.

Lynchburg received a one-out double from Nellie Rodriguez in the bottom of the seventh, but he was stranded at third by Myrtle Beach reliever,Ben Wells.

The ‘Cats made it interesting in the ninth. They loaded the bases with one out when Clint Frazier was hit by a pitch, Bradley Zimmer walked, andNellie Rodriguez singled to right. With two out, down to his final strike, Haase was hit by a pitch to scratch across the first run for Lynchburg. Paul Hendrix nearly had a walk-off, but Carlos Penalver ranged up the middle, spun, and recorded the final out at first. Lynchburg suffered its fourth loss in a row by a final score of 2-1.

The final game of the seven-game homestand will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Stadium. It will be Skin Cancer Awareness Night presented by RidgeView Dermatology. It is also a BOGO Monday presented by ABC 13. Fans can buy one general admission ticket and get another free. Fans that can’t make it out to the ballpark can tune into ESPN Radio Virginia 93.3 FM and 1320 AM. The Hillcats On-Deck Show will begin at 6:10 p.m.