The Potomac Nationals (6-7) dropped the opening game of their series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (10-5) 4-2 on a sold out Independence Day extravaganza at Pfitzner Stadium. LHP Chad Bell (W, 3-0) allowed just two hits in five innings to earn the win for Myrtle Beach.
P-Nats starter RHP Dakota Bacus (L, 3-4) ran into one troubling inning and made one bad pitch despite a very respectable performance over six innings. Bacus allowed four hits and struck out seven in his effort. The one bad pitch was the second of the game to Pelicans’ leadoff man CF Chris Garia who jacked a home run down the right field line.
Myrtle Beach tallied three more runs in the fifth inning. 2B Christopher Bostick drove in 3B David Lyon with a one-out single. In the next at-bat, LF Nick Williams poured a double into the right-centerfield gap scoring a pair of Pelicans to make it 4-0.
Potomac put their best rally efforts together in the bottom of the seventh. The Nats strung together three straight singles. RF Randolph Oduber’s brought DH Oscar Tejeda home, and 3B Khayyan Norfork’s sacrifice fly scored 1B Shawn Pleffner making it a 4-2 game.
The rally effort ultimately fell short in the end when the final six Nationals hitters were retired in the eighth and ninth. RHP Jose Leclerc (Sv, 8) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth, including Oduber to end the game.
CF Will Piwnica-Worms left the game after being hit in the head by a pitch in the seventh inning. He walked off under his own power and will be evaluated further on Saturday.
The Potomac Nationals Baseball Network, which is accessible at www.potomacnationals.com, will broadcast the second and third games of a four game series against Myrtle Beach on Saturday, July 5th. Broadcast coverage will begin with the P-Nats Leadoff Show at 4:45pm in preparation for the 5:00pm resumption of the game that was previously suspended on June 27th. The Pelicans currently lead Potomac 6-3 in the fifth inning of the contest. RHP Blake Schwartz (1-0, 6.43) will pick things up in the fifth for the P-Nats in game one, and Austin Voth (1-0, 0.69) goes in game two. Both of Myrtle Beach’s starters are TBA.
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