April 1, 2012
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman's doubleheader sweep (6-3 and 8-0) of North Carolina Central Sunday provided two different ways to drive in four runs. Michelle Banuelos-Smith did it with three crisp, productive at-bats. Amari Foster got hers with an improbable but monster swing.
Both approaches worked as the Wildcats (17-21 overall, 3-0 conference) took the three-game series from the Lady Eagles (3-31, 0-3) to start Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division play.
With NCCU leading 1-0, Foster launched a 3-0 pitch waaay over the centerfield field for a second-inning grand slam that both sparked the Wildcats and helped them play through a slow start.
“I wanted to be aggressive,” said Foster, who registered her third homer of the season. “I'm thinking I'm going to get a pitch down the middle. I had no choice but to get a good hit.”
B-CU twice answered Eagle scores to keep the three-run advantage, with Karina Romero scoring after hitting a two-out double in the third and Calesha Shelley scoring an unearned run in the sixth.
Backed by solid defense from Kelsey Rodney, Cesley Tafoya and Sabrina Ferguson, Shanel Tolbert retired 12 of the final 13 Eagle batters for the first game victory.
Banuelos-Smith, who leads the Wildcats with a .364 average, set the tone for an efficient run-rule victory that featured timely hitting and aggressive base running – four Wildcats scored from second.
The junior went 3-3 with RBIs each hit.
She doubled home Aurelia Gamch in the first, smacked a two-run single in the third and concluded the day with a two-out single that scored Shelley for the game-ender in the fifth.
This came after going 0-4 in the first game.
“My approach in the second was to see the ball longer and see my pitches,” Banuelos-Smith said. “I had horrible pitch selection in the first game. This time I hit pitches I knew I could drive.”
Gamch had a two-run single in the second. Foster and Romero each scored twice. Tolbert scattered four hits for her fourth shutout of the season.
The Wildcats have now won 12 straight home games and 18 consecutive MEAC games dating back to 2010.
B-CU travels to South Carolina State for a three-game series beginning Friday.
