Pelicans drop double-dip to Keys

The Pelicans could not find the key to victory in either game against Frederick on Monday - the Keys swept Myrtle Beach in a double header, winning Game 1 10-8, and taking Game 2 7-2.

Game One - The Frederick Keys answered seven Pelicans' runs in the top of the fifth inning with seven of their own in the bottom of the inning en route to a raucous, 10-8, game one victory at Harry Grove Stadium on Monday night.

As he did in game one of the series, Eric Campbell put the Pelicans on the board first with a long ball in the first inning. Campbell roped his 12th of the year off of starter Jake Renshaw over the wall in left to put Myrtle Beach up 1-0. For Campbell, it was his second home run of the series and his fourth in the birds' last three ballgames.

Pelicans' starter Chris Vines conceded the lead and three runs to the Keys in the third. Todd Davison led off the inning with a single before stealing second base. He scored to tie the ballgame on a Mike Pierce double. Danny Figueroa followed with double over the head of Jon Mark Owings in right field. Pierce held to make sure it fell and moved to third on the play. Brandon Snyder followed by dumping a single to right field to score both runners and give Frederick a 3-1 lead.

The Pelicans stormed back ahead by plating seven runs off a trio of hurlers in the fifth inning. Renshaw walked the first two batters in the inning before departing in favor of Ryan Ouellette. Ouellette brought a gas can with him to the mound, and permitted seven runners to score in the inning. Tyler Flowers and Concepcion Rodriguez both contributed two-run doubles before Owings blasted a two-run home run over the center field wall to cap the scoring in the inning with the Pelicans leading, 8-3. Jeff Moore finally came on to douse the flames and record the final two outs of the inning.

Frederick turned the other cheek and then came swinging out of the corner in the bottom of the inning. Vines allowed the first two in the inning to reach including Figueroa who doubled in Pierce to trim the lead to four. Miguel Abreu followed with a two-run homer to cut the game to 8-6. Snyder singled before Rocket Wheeler finally went to the bullpen for Jaye Chapman. The right-hander wasn't the answer, walking Dillon upon his entrance before conceding four hits and a sacrifice fly to allow an inherited runner to score along with three more as the Keys reclaimed their two-run lead, 10-8.

Chapman (0-1) was hit with the loss having conceded three earned runs on four hits in an inning of work. Moore (1-2), working a non-descript two outs of relief recorded his first victory of the season.

In the loss, the Pelicans tied the franchise record of 105 team home runs for the season, which was established in 1999. Making the feat more remarkable is the fact that they accomplished it in just 92 games.

Game Two - A shell-shocked Pelicans club never seemed to recover from their game one stunner, dropping game two quietly, 7-2, to the Keys to suffer their first doubleheader sweep of the season.

The Keys rallied for four runs with two outs against Pelicans' starter Jeff Lyman. The inning could have concluded, but Lyman bobbled a bunt from Figueroa allowing him to reach and the inning to continue. Abreu followed with a single to put runners on the corners and the first run of the game plated on a Snyder double to give Frederick the lead. A walk to Dillon followed and then a wild play led to three runs for the Keys. Tripp ripped a single to left field and as Rodriguez came up firing to the plate his throw was cut off by Campbell and then thrown away to allow all three runs to score and give Frederick a 4-0 lead.

The Pelicans halved the lead in the fifth as Rodriguez was walked by Keys' starter Zach Clark and Owings doubled behind him. Robert Marcial and Phillip Britton both put balls in play to the right side to drive in runs and the game stood 4-2 in favor of Frederick.

The Keys put the game away in the bottom of the frame however, plating three runs to take a 7-2 lead. All three runs were charged to Lyman (2-3) who was charged with the loss allowing seven runs - five earned - in the ballgame.

Clark (2-2) earned the win for the Keys, working five innings and allowing two runs. JP Martinez closed out the ballgame for the Keys hurling the final two frames.