March 12, 2008

Box Score

Macon, Ga. - Sophomore Felix Machado went seven strong innings on the mound for Bethune-Cookman University to help the Wildcats secure a 4-3 win over homestanding Mercer University on Wednesday evening at Claude Smith Field in Macon, Ga.

Another pitcher's duel ensued on Wednesday afternoon as the Bears of Mercer (7-7) and Bethune-Cookman were locked in another of what has become a classic series of games between the interstate foes. The Bears, having won three in a row against the Wildcats back in 2006, were facing the possibility of being swept in consecutive years by B-CU--a stretch of five games.

The Wildcats (9-5) went with sophomore Felix Machado on the mound as he looked impressive in just his fourth career start with the Wildcats. The Isabela, P.R. native was absolutely magnificent for head coach Mervyl Melendez and his staff.

"I thought Machado was great for us on the mound today, and all of his pitches looked good," expressed Melendez. "He really did a good job for us today, and this is what he can give us any time he is on the mound ... starting or relieving."

On the other side of things, Mercer went with the hard-throwing Scott Patterson who was just as good for his 5.2 frames on the bump. With runs being hard to come by just a night ago, this would prove to be no exception to the rule in tonight's affair.

B-CU opened up the scoring for the second time in as many days in the fifth inning as the Wildcats performed a two-out rally. The rally was started on back-to-back singles from senior Neal Jones and Mark Brooks. A fielder's choice that couldn't go as an out allowed junior centerfielder José Ortiz to reach safely and load up the bases for the Wildcats. Shortstop José Lozada stepped to the plate and recorded the easy RBI with his MEAC-leading 15th walk of the season.

The walk issued to Lozada plated Jones from third to put the `Cats ahead, 1-0 after five innings away.

The Bears would not go away when they started their own two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1.

Mercer designated hitter Thomas Carroll kicked off the rally with a single to right, followed by a walk to John Dortch. John Moreland eventually stepped up and delivered a run-scoring single to center to plate Carroll from third.

B-CU plated the go-ahead run in the top-half of the seventh when Lozada drove in his 13th run of the year as he plated teammate Jeremy Ruperto with a single to straight-away center field. The `Cats were not done, however, as they scored two more big insurance runs in the top of the eighth.

The `Cats Osvaldo Torres led-off the eighth with a solo blast to left center for his second long ball of the year. That was followed up by Drew Clark two batters later as the Deltona, Fla. Junior scored his second homerun of the year with a solo shot to right field.

B-CU led 4-1 after eight innings. That's where the Wildcats, so often inconsistent with late leads and their bullpen last year, had to try and avoid a repeat performance of the new-age CARDIAC CATS.

With Concepcion Guzman on the mound for B-CU, the Bears staged a dramatic run in their last at-bat.

With the bases loaded, Billy Shaughnessy collected an RBI walk to plate Bentley. That was followed by a sacrifice fly from Brown to advance Stuart to home cutting the score at 4-3. The last two outs would eventually be collected from normal starter Hiram Burgos as he collected his first career save in the process.

The win went to Machado as he improved to 2-1 on the year. The loss went to Mercer's Kyle Bedrosian who fell to 0-1. As mentioned, the save went to Burgos. Machado threw seven complete frames, allowing just the one run and striking out a career-high 10 batters. He also spread out five hits.

Mercer was led at the plate by Thomas Carroll who was 3-for-5 at the dish with one run scored. Dortch added two hits, while Moreland added another hit for the Bears.

The Maroon and Gold of B-CU were led by Clark with two hits including the homerun.

"This was a good win yesterday and today," continued Melendez. "We had a good series against a good team, and I think this was good for our program. We have to continue to stay focused and prepare for our next games just as we did against Mercer and everyone else."

The `Cats will take to the field again on Saturday with a doubleheader affair at Dick Brown Stadium in West Palm Beach, Fla. The games will be against Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively, as a part of the Papa John's Classic.

For more information, please visit the B-CU athletic website at www.BCCathletics.com. Live stats for both games will be available through Game Tracker at the B-CU athletic site.