DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman maintained its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division lead with a pair of one-run victories – 4-3 and 9-8 – over South Carolina State Saturday afternoon.
Aurelia Gamch scored the game-winning run for the Wildcats (10-28 overall, 4-0 MEAC) in the opener and the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-4 second inning led in the second game before holding off a Lady Bulldogs (13-15,2-3) rally.
GAME 1
Gamch scored three runs and had three hits for B-CU, but came up biggest after the Lady Bulldogs tied the game with a three-run sixth.
The senior shortstop led off the seventh with a single, advanced to second on Simone Ceasar's bunt single and scored on a throwing error on Kelsey Rodney's bunt.
B-CU took a 1-0 lead on Rodney's RBI triple in the first and expanded the lead on RBI singles from Gamch and Melissa Berouty in the third.
Calesha Shelley and Ceasar each had two hits for B-CU in the opener.
GAME 2
Capitalizing on six walks and four errors, the Wildcats led 4-1 after the first and 9-4 after the second. Rodney had an RBI double and Michele Banuelos-Smith a two-run triple to highlight the seventh.
South Carolina State closed to one run with two runs each in the fifth and sixth, but Shanel Tolbert got two putouts from third baseman Sophia Ortega and a pop foul behind the plate from Berouty to preserve her second win of the day.
Gamch had two hits for B-CU in the second game.
The series concludes Sunday at noon.
NOTE: B-CU Head Coach Chris Cochran picked up her 200th career coaching victory in the first game. Cochran is in her seventh season at B-CU and tenth overall.
