May 28, 2011

Final Stats

Call Baseball Contact Michael Stambaugh for more details - 386.481.2278 -

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saturday's matchup at Bethune Point Park was just as billed, a tough matchup between the top two teams in HBCU baseball. Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion Alcorn State traveled to Florida in a late-addition game to face the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, who recently wrapped up their sixth straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title.

Both games of the double-header ended in a defensive battle, both a low scoring affair. The Wildcats put up runs early in both games, defeating the Braves 3-1 in the first outing. In game two, ASU made a comeback victory in the final three innings to split the series with a 4-3 win.

Game One

The Wildcats got on the board early to open the matchup between the two HBCU conference champions, as three-hole batter Peter O'Brien hit an RBI single to bring in Alejandro Sanchez in the first frame.

The 'Cats scored again in the third with center fielder Brandon Turner hitting a leadoff home run to right field, his fourth of the year.

B-CU added to their lead one final time in the fourth with Matt Wright's RBI double to right field sending Emmanuel Castro across the plate.

From there, Wildcat defense and pitching kept the ship righted, allowing five hits in the final four innings, but only surrendering a single run for the 3-1 win over the Braves.

Starter Chris Anselmo to close out the game. Each tallied a strikeout with Anselmo earning his fourth save.

Castro hit 2-3 to lead the 'Cats, scoring one run and Sanchez went 2-4 with a run of his own. O'Brien, Turner, and Wright each finished with one RBI apiece.

Game Two

The second outing of the double-header played out in a similar fashion early in the game, but the Braves made a successful push for the lead late in the game to split the series at one game apiece.

The Wildcats scored runs in the first and third innings, opening the game with an Emmanuel Castro RBI single to left field. B-CU then tacked on a pair with a two-RBI double from Peter O'Brien for the final Wildcat runs of the day.

Down two runs, Alcorn State began to rally late in the game, scoring one run in consecutive innings to knot the score up at three-all heading into the final frame. ASU left fielder Joshua Powell hit an RBI single to right center, claiming the Braves' first lead of the day in the top of the ninth.

In the bottom half, the Wildcats put runners in scoring position, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, as ASU put away the final batter in the 4-3 comeback win.

The series between #1 and #2 of the Black College Baseball polls split at one game apiece as now both teams head into NCAA Regional competition next weekend.

B-CU starter Rayan Gonzalez pitched seven innings in the loss, with a tally of 10 strikeouts and two earned runs.

At the plate, O'Brien went 1-3 with two RBI, while Castro went 1-2 with an RBI, and Brashad Johnson went 2-4.

With the final regular season series completed, the Wildcats move to a record of 36-23 on the season, as they head into NCAA Regionals. Bethune-Cookman will learn their destination on Memorial Day, Monday at 12:30 p.m. on the NCAA selection show on ESPN.

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