Huntsville 5, Carolina 4

Zebulon, NC --- Lou Palmisano's ninth inning groundout broke a 4-4 tie as Huntsville beat Carolina for the ninth straight time, 5-4 at Five County Stadium on Monday night.   Carolina (14-24) lost its fourth straight game, and had to surprisingly start Jarrett Santos ahead of Rick Vanden Hurk. 

Santos, who had thrown 4 1/3 innings over three appearances in the last four days, was forced into making his first professional start when Vanden Hurk fell ill a few hours before the game.  Santos pitched four valiant innings, permitting two runs and four hits.  Blake McGinley relieved in the fifth, working 2 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.  

Brett Hayes hit his first Double-A homer in the second inning against starter Adam Pettyjohn.  Pettyjohn worked six innings, allowing two hits and three runs, but was in line for the loss until the first-place Stars (19-17) tied the game in the eighth.  Hitting against reliever Craig Molldrem, the Stars loaded the bases on three consecutive walks to begin the inning.  After retiring two hitters, Molldrem saw Raleigh native Ulyses Davenport lash a tying single to center to make it 4-4.   

In the ninth, against the last available Mudcats reliever Kurt Koehler (L, 1-1), Hernan Iribarren singled with one out to start the game-winning rally.  Guilder Rodriguez hit a grounder to second baseman Kevin Randel, who threw low to second base for an error, chasing Iribarren to third and Rodriguez to second.  After an intentional walk, Palmisano hit a high chopper to short to bring in the go-ahead run.   Former Mudcat Mark DiFelice (W, 2-0) notched the victory over his ex-team, working two innings, permitting a run.  DiFelice was a Southern League all-star in 2001 with Carolina.   

If Vanden Hurk is physically capable, he'll start the series' fourth game Tuesday night against the Stars Steve Hammond (3-4, 5.92).  If not, James Russ will make his scheduled start at 7:15 PM ET.

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