May 9, 2008

Box Score

Ormond Beach, Fla. - Florida A&M fell to Bethune-Cookman, 14-9 in an elimination game of the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Softball Tournament, Friday morning at the Ormond Beach Softball Complex.

FAMU (16-40) punched out 13 hits with Melissa Oliphant leading the way with three hits, followed by Unika McIntosh, Joyce Harold and Alesha Wells with two hits each.

B-CU (21-35) finished with a game high 16 hits paced by Holley Bussey with three hits, followed by Allison Garcia, Christina Trimble, Liz Parrish and Taryn Hernandez with two hits apiece.

Chasity Sanders (4-9) picked the wins for the Lady Wildcats, allowing five hits and striking out one in two innings of work, while Garcia (1) got the save for the B-CU, allowing eight hits, seven earned runs and striking three in five innings of relief.

"I think Chastity did a good job today helping to set us up, and then eventually get the job done," expressed B-CU second-year head coach Chris Cochran. "The girls had to dig deep in the end and they found a way to win."

Tiffany Chan (8-20) took the loss for the Lady Rattlers, allowing seven hits, six earned runs and striking one in four innings of work.

FAMU opened the scoring Friday on an Oliphant single to short, which scored Rhianna Green from third, giving the Lady Rattlers a 1-0 lead.

B-CU took the lead in the top of the third as Holley Bussey homered to right field, followed by a Anush Mooradian single to right field scoring Garcia. Then a Parrish two-run double scored both Mooradian and Trimble, giving the Lady Wildcats a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Wildcats added to their advantage in the top of the fourth as Brandi Holley. Then a Parrish double scored both Mooradian and Trimble, making the score 9-1.

B-CU picked another run in the top of the fifth as Hinds scored on the Holley sacrifice to centerfield, giving the Lady Wildcats a 10-1 lead.

An Oliphant double scoring both Green and Alesha Wells, cut B-CU's lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

The Lady Wildcats made the score 12-3 in the top of the sixth as Hinds doubled to left field scoring both Taryn Hernandez.

"We did get out in front, but I couldn't help them win it by holding on," said Cochran. "That is something they had to do themselves, and I'm proud of the girls and the fact that we get to move on and play once more in front of our home crowd this afternoon."

But in the bottom of the sixth inning, FAMU scored six runs to cut B-CU's lead to 12-9 as Shayla Clark hit into a fielder choice scoring Brittany Newby, followed by a McIntosh single scoring Joyce Harold. Then Clark would score on an Oliphant single up the middle, followed an Ashley Jones three-run homer.

B-CU would score two more runs in the top of the seventh as Hernandez singled up the middle scoring both Trimble and Garcia for the 14-9 final.

"It's amazing what happens when these two teams get together," stated FAMU head coach Veronica Wiggins. "It just wouldn't be a B-CU/FAMU game of any type without excitement, and that's what we gave the fans from both schools."

MEAC TOURNAMENT UPDATE: Bethune-Cookman advances in the loser's bracket to face Norfolk State at 3:30 p.m. Friday.... Howard and Delaware State were to meet in the winner's bracket semifinal at 11:30, with the winner advancing to Saturday's 1:00 p.m. title game... They will face the winner of Friday's 5:30 p.m. game between the loser of the Howard-Del State game and the winner of the Norfolk-Bethune Cookman game in the finals of the loser's bracket..... The tournament winner will advance to NCAA Regional play next weekend....