For seven innings, the Selma Cloverleafs crashed Pensacola’s Mardi Gras party. But with one swing of the bat, Pelicans’ third baseman Buck Harrison ended Selma’s good times.

Harrison’s two-out, two-run homer off Leafs’ reliever Dennis Gomez gave Pensacola (38-25) an 8-7 victory on &uot;Mardi Gras in August Night” and allowed the Pelicans to maintain their 2-game lead over Baton Rouge in the standings.

Scott Courneya pitched one inning of scoreless relief of starter Robert Gaddy to earn the win. B.J. Litchfield struck out two in the ninth to pick up the save.

Courneya got out of a jam in the top of the eighth and Harrison followed with his heroics. The third-baseman from the Virgin Islands greeted Gomez with a blast over the left-field fence to score Nunnari, who walked with two outs off Kirk Gosch.

Selma jumped out to an early lead off Gaddy, scoring two in the second and three in the third, including a three-run homer by center fielder Joe Colvin. The Pelicans scored two runs in the second on Brian Rooke’s two-run homer to left center, but trailed 5-2 after three.

The Pelicans tied the score with a wild fourth-inning rally. Hiroyuki Komaki reached on an infield single, Joe Kirby walked and Manabu Karimochi put down a bunt along the third-base line to load the bases.

After a fielder’s choice scored Komaki, Talmadge Nunnari blasted a two-run double to center to tie the score. Komaki laced a single down the right-field line to score Ryan Satterwhite, who led off the fifth with a single, to give Pensacola a short-lived 6-5 advantage in the sixth.