DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman swept Savannah State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division doubleheader Saturday, taking wins of 3-2 and 5-1 at Sunnyland Park.
The Wildcats (20-27 overall, 10-1 MEAC) and Tigers (21-19,5-6) conclude the series Sunday at noon. It's also Senior Day for Bethune-Cookman, who will honor Kelsey Rodney, Shanel Tolbert and manager Kenya Collins in a pre-game ceremony.
GAME ONE
Calesha Shelley scored both her runs without the aid of a Wildcat hit, including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh on Kaitlin Alamprese's sacrifice fly.
After Savannah State took a 2-0 lead after two innings, Shelley capitalized on three Tiger wild pitches for her third-inning run. B-CU tied the game in the fifth when Kelsey Rodney scored on Bailey Conner's single.
In the seventh, Shelley led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and then third on a wild pitch. Alamprese's fly ball to center was deep enough that Shelley scored easily.
Sabrina Anguiano picked up the win, benefiting from a third-inning double play. She retired nine in a row at one point, and got conference leading hitter Torian Wright to strike out looking with a running in scoring position to end the seventh.
The win was just the third time in 23 games the Wildcats won when they didn't score the first run. It also was B-CU's sixth one-run victory in conference play.
GAME 2
Sophia Ortega and Alamprese each drove in two runs as the Wildcats led from start to finish for the sweep.
Alamprese's RBI single and a RBI double from Melissa Berouty gave B-CU a 2-0 first inning lead. After the Tigers closed to 2-1 in the fourth, Ortega's two-run double down the right field line scored Rodney and Anguiano to make it 4-1.
Alamprese gave the Wildcats an insurance run in the sixth with her second hit of the game, a double that scored Destinee Williams.
Rodney, Ortega and Williams also had two hits for the Wildcats. Conner, aiding her own cause in the fifth by turning a double play to end a bases-loaded threat, picked up the victory while Anguiano got the final two outs for the save.
