SAVANNAH, Ga. – Kelsey Rodney drove in three runs, and was one of six Bethune-Cookman players with two hits as the Wildcats downed Savannah State 11-4 Sunday to conclude a sweep of a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division series.
Shamaria Engram, Michelle Banuelos-Smith and Aurelia Gamch each had a solo home run for the Wildcats, who scored 39 runs this weekend to maintain their lead in the division. B-CU (16-31 overall, 10-1 MEAC) and Florida A&M (18-28,8-3) meet next weekend for the division's top seed in the conference tournament May 9-11.
Savannah State (23-18,5-7) led 4-2 after two innings, but the Wildcats tied it in the third on Rodney's second sacrifice fly and Banuelos-Smith's home run.
B-CU took the lead in the fifth on two-out RBI from Melissa Berouty and Engram and a Savannah State error for a 7-4 advantage. The Wildcats added three runs in the six on Gamch's homer and a two-run error.
Simone Ceasar and Sophia Ortega also had two hits for the Wildcats, who had all nine batters register one hit in the team's 15-hit day.
Shanel Tolbert (12-23) threw no-hit ball over the final five and one-third innings – retiring 13 straight at one point – to finish with a three-hitter.
Rodney hit .636 (7-11) and had eight RBI for the Wildcats in the series.
NOTES: B-CU finished April with an 8-4 record … Gamch has now had an extra base hit in five of the last seven games … Calesha Shelley has now reached safely in 17 straight games … Berouty now has a seven-game hitting streak … The Wildcats' three homers were a season-high … B-CU scored seven more runs this series than it did the entire month of February (32).