April 9, 2008

Box Score

Jacksonville, Fla. - Jacksonville University scored five runs in the first inning and clung on to defeat Bethune-Cookman University, 6-5 in baseball action on Wednesday night at Sessions Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

It was a rough start for B-CU starting pitcher Felix Machado on Wednesday before the hard-throwing sophomore settled in ... but not before accepting his second consecutive loss in back-to-back starts for the Wildcats (19-13).

JU (19-13) scored five runs in the opening inning as the Dolphins squared around for four hits in the frame. The first five batters reached base safely, including a two-RBI double to right centerfield from JU first baseman Jeremy Gillan that plated Kevin Ferreira and Chuck Opachich on the play to put the Dolphins up, 2-0. Gillan scored on a single from Dan Maier, and Thomas Myers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to collect an RBI that scored Maier.

The final run of the inning came when Simmons scored on a RBI ground-out by left fielder Kyle Fleming.

B-CU cut into the lead in the top-half of the second courtesy a leadoff homerun from first baseman Osvaldo Torres. For Torres, it was his fourth homerun of the year.

B-CU's Machado settled in nicely after the first inning to have two scoreless innings while the Wildcats crawled back into the game with the bat.

In the top of the fourth, B-CU cut the lead down to 5-4 with a three-run homerun from third baseman Emmanuel Castro that scored Torres and shortstop José Lozada as well.

JU mustered up some more offense off Machado in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field by Gillan that allowed teammate Ferreira to scamper in from third base on a bang-bang play at the plate.

In the eighth inning, the Wildcats continued to chip away at the Dolphins lead as Justin Hoyte reached on an error, and later put himself into scoring position on a wild pitch from JU reliever Steve Eagerton. JU starter Garrett Dunlap went 3.1 innings in the game before being relieved by the JU bullpen.

Hoyte would later score in the frame to cut the score down to the final of 6-5 with a RBI single from Lozada. For the senior shortstop, it was the ninth consecutive hit for Lozada, while classmate Neal Jones now has an eight-game hitting streak ... and Pat Jones has five games under his belt. Lozada's hitting streak of 17 games was broken in the second game of the two-game stretch at Miami two weeks ago.

The win went to JU reliever Glenn Witkowski who improved to 2-0 on the year out of the bullpen. Machado accepted the loss to drop below the .500 line at 2-3. Wildcats reliever Roman Lancara also worked out of the bullpen for three innings as he allowed just two hits and struck-out three batters.

At the plate, the Dolphins were led by Opachich with a 3-for-4 showing and a run scored. Brad Simmons also collected a multi-hit game with two. B-CU was led by five players with a hit apiece.

Bethune-Cookman returns to the diamond on Saturday, Apr. 12 when they host conference foe Norfolk State University at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex at 1 p.m. The game is set for a doubleheader on Saturday, concluding with a one-game set on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach. Live stats will be available through Game Tracker at www.BCCathletics.com.