May 8, 2008

Box Score

Ormond Beach, Fla. - Howard University looked every bit as worthy of possibly repeating as MEAC champions on Thursday evening as they cruised past Bethune-Cookman University, 10-1 and into the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla.

Howard (23-15) broke things open in the fourth inning when B-CU (20-35) freshman pitcher Allison Garcia seemed to be laboring a bit on her injured ankle, as well as fatigue from having pitched in a scrappy first game against Morgan State.

Howard third baseman Emily Johnson started off the inning with a single through the left side and advanced on an error charged to the B-CU infield. She would later score the game's opening run with the help of Jessica Norwood's RBI single to centerfield, followed by Norwood coming in as pitcher Christina McCoy roped a single up the middle for the 3-0 Bison advantage. HU added two more runs in the inning, including a sacrifice fly to left that crossed first baseman Jennifer Bien-Amie for the 5-0 Bison lead in the fourth.

"I thought that was a big inning because we could've gotten out of the inning if not for an error and a bad play here-and-there," expressed B-CU head coach Chris Cochran. "That was a huge inning because we needed Ally [Garcia] to step up, and I really think she played with heart and determination down the stretch tonight even though she was hurting."

Two more runs in the second and three in the third helped Howard starting pitcher McCoy to a brilliant two-hit shutout through five innings. B-CU finally crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth with the Bison on top 10-0.

"I think that the team is now at the point where they are having fun," stated Howard head coach Tonja Braxton afterwards. "They played very loose and confident today and I think that is a good sign for us for the rest of the tournament."

Pinch hitter and freshman Taryn Hernandez started the at-bat for the Wildcats with a double to left center. After second baseman Sonya Urteaga reentered the game at that position as a pinch runner for Hernandez, she switched positions at the plate with freshman Ashton Hinds as she lined a double to left center to score Urteaga. Hinds would later be called out at third trying to stretch the play into a triple on the throw to the plate.

That led to the final 10-1 Bison advantage as the final score.

The Maroon and Gold mustered up just three (3) hits against McCoy with one earned run. Meanwhile, the Bison roughed up Garcia for 20 hits and 10 runs (five earned) as she also collected four strikeouts. Her counterpart, McCoy, had four strikeouts as well in the circle.

When speaking about McCoy's performance tonight, Braxton had nothing but rave reviews for the hard-throwing right-hander. "She pitched a brilliant game. I don't know what it is about Bethune-Cookman, but she seems to pitch well against them. She had a good performance against them last year."

The 20 hits allowed are the most by a MEAC opponent this year, and the second most of the campaign. Florida Gulf Coast collected 23 back on Mar. 25 when they scored 23 runs in Daytona Beach.

Howard was led on the night by four (4) players with three hits, including shortstop Brianne Gutierrez who was 3-for-3 with a run and two RBI. B-CU was led by centerfielder Hinds who had two of the `Cats three hits in the game.

B-CU now faces rival Florida A&M in the first game tomorrow of the loser's bracket at 9 a.m. back at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. The Bison face-off against Delaware State, the only other undefeated team of the tournament, in an All Northern Division showdown at 11 a.m. in the winner's bracket for the right to move on to the finals.

For more information and updated scores and brackets, please log on to www.MEACsports.com.