May 8, 2012
Box Score
Reach Baseball Contact Michael Stambaugh for more details by E-Mail -
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman's ninth-inning rally to overcome Jacksonville University was cut short, Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, as the final out was collected by the Dolphins on a runner caught stealing third, ending the game in a 4-3 loss.
“Obviously it's disappointing,” said Head Coach Jason Beverlin, “to rally like that and come up short, but I thought overall we played a pretty good game.”
With injured starters Anthony Stokes and Alejandro Sanchez back in the lineup, it definitely showed in their play, initiated by Stokes, who put the Wildcats on the board in the second inning. Returning from an 11-game injury, Stokes went yard with the first pitch of his at-bat to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
The Dolphins pushed back to knot the score up two innings later, using a lead-off walk to capitalize on a line drive fired back into starter Bryan Rivera's shin for the 1-1 tie.
Late in the game, JU began a push on top, scoring in consecutive innings in the seventh and eighth, while reliever Steve Eagerton held the Wildcats without a response.
After B-CU closer Jordan Dailey locked down JU in the top of the ninth, collecting a pair of fly outs and a groundout to retire the Dolphins in order, the heart of B-CU's line up came to the plate. B-CU began to rally in crunch-time with aggressive play; perhaps even too much so in the end.
David Lee reached base on an error on a shallow-hit infield ball and advanced to second on Brashad Johnson's single that fell just inside the reach of the right fielder. Sanchez was hit on the first pitch to load the bases, setting up Stokes for his second RBI of the night on a sacrifice fly.
Nick Johnson fired an RBI single to the left side, intercepted by the JU third baseman to save a run, but the Dolphins still allowed B. Johnson to score from third and bring the game to just one run.
Seeing the opportunity early in the next at-bat, Sanchez made the move to steal third base, but JU catcher Matt Frank placed the ball perfectly to beat the slide and throw him out, ending the rally in a 4-3 loss to JU, splitting games with the Dolphins on the year.
“He was just a little over-aggressive there,” Beverlin said of Sanchez. “He had the right intentions, and was trying to make something happen. He just got caught trying to do a little too much in that situation, and not for selfish reasons.”
Rivera threw a solid second start of the season, pitching five innings, allowing five hits with just one earned run, and collecting one strikeout. Juan Pizarro collected his first loss of the year as B-CU's middle reliever, giving up two runs in the seventh.
“He did a good job of keeping them off balance, because they hit the ball pretty well tonight with not a whole lot to show for it,” Beverlin noted of Rivera's performance. “Bryan did a good job of minimizing the damage and kept us in the game.”
Not a bad start back for Stokes coming off the injury; hitting 2-of-3 with 2 RBI to lead the team, including his 10th homer of the year. N. Johnson and B. Johnson each logged 2-of-4 performances at the plate.
The Wildcats (28-22) return to action Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., at Jackie Robinson, in B-CU's final home game of 2012, taking on the Panthers of FIU (28-20) in the third and final installment of the matchup for the season. B-CU lost the first trip to Miami, 6-2, but came out on top 6-3 the last time down, topped by a three-run homer from freshman DH Jake Welch.
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