March 30, 2008

Box Score

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman junior pitcher Eric Thomas was phenomenal on the mound for the Wildcats as they defeated Savannah State, 7-0 in the rubber game of the three-game series Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Just as last year's memorable series ended, so did this year's annual battle between Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman. B-CU won the first game only to see SSU come back and dominate the second. That's when B-CU changed the entire lineup, almost, and used "lights-out" pitching to shutout the visiting Tigers.

The same was true on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of the series. To put it short, it was a great weekend of Black College Baseball in beautiful Daytona Beach between two storied programs.

B-CU starting pitcher Eric Thomas as phenomenal once again on the mound as the Gainesville native has truly become a staple of the B-CU starting weekend rotation. He went six full frames on the mound for the Wildcats and allowed just one (1) hit in his work ... all while picking up six strikeouts and walking four.

The game started with B-CU (16-10) jumping on top first when a two-out rally was kick-started by José Ortiz's single past to right and José Lozada's single past short to put runners at the corner. Senior right fielder Neal Jones connected on a first-pitch fastball down the middle to collect a two-run scoring single to left. That vaulted the Wildcats on top, 2-0.

B-CU left two runners stranded in the third, and then left the bases full of Wildcats in the fourth as they were seemingly getting to SSU (16-10) starter Jarrel Arnold. But Arnold and the help of SSU left fielder Brett Pointer--having made some dynamic catches throughout the weekend, worked themselves out of the jam each time unscathed.

In the fifth, the Wildcats finally broke through on Arnold as they burst open for five runs in the frame.

B-CU batted around the order that began with Lozada's second hit of the day, and designated hitter Emmanuel Castro later drove him in with a single to left. Third baseman Osvaldo Torres before SSU relief hurler Michael O'Neil--entering midway through for Arnold, was relieved on the mound with the bases loaded. Pitcher Christopher Chupp hit Mark Brooks with the first pitch to earn him a RBI that plated Castro the easy way.

B-CU left fielder Patrick Jones appropriately stepped to the plate and delivered his only hit of the game that scored two as his shot back up the middle plated Patterson and catcher Jeremy Ruperto.

That rounded out the scoring on the day for the Wildcats, leading to the final of 7-0.

Steady B-CU pitching down the stretch was the key as the Wildcats relief efforts did not go in vain today. Pitchers Samuel Rodriguez and Matthew Crane each took turns on the mound, respectively, while striking out three batters combined and walking two.

The only hit of the game for the Tigers came from leadoff batter and centerfielder Kyle Wilkerson. It was an infield single off Thomas.

The win went to Thomas who kept his record clean on the year at 4-0, while SSU's Arnold fell to 1-2 on the season.

B-CU was led at the plate by Lozada and Torres with two hits each, as well as the bench play of Jones who came in for Neal Jones had a hit and two RBI as well.

Several Wildcats played well in the field at different positions, especially reserve third baseman Chris Brown.

B-CU now prepares for their annual hop series with intra-county foe Stetson University on Tuesday as the `Cats travel to nearby DeLand for a game set to begin at 7 p.m. It will take place at Melching Field. For ticket information, please call the Stetson Ticket Office at (386) 822-8100.