DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After spending the first 24 games of the season on the road, Bethune-Cookman made its Sunnyland Park season debut splitting the mid-week series with Butler, falling 10-3 during game one and earning the 8-1 victory in game two Wednesday in Daytona Beach.
Errors were costly for the Wildcats during game one as the Bulldogs only plated five earned runs compared to their 10 total.
Kaitlin Alamprese and Melissa Berouty each finished 2-for-3 at the dish, while B-CU finished the loss with eight team hits.
Kristin Gutierrez (4-4) collected the Butler victory throwing 6.0 innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and striking out three Wildcats.
Sophomore hurler Sabrina Anguiano (3-16) suffered the B-CU loss throwing a complete game, giving up five earned runs and fanning four Bulldog batters during the 10-3 setback.
During game two, the home-opening jitters were no longer an issue for the Wildcats as B-CU held Butler during the first two frames.
In the bottom of the second, a double from Wildcat clean-up batter, Shamaria Engram gave B-CU its first baserunner of the contest. Alamprese knocked in her teammate from second with a single to right field, giving the Wildcats the 1-0 lead.
Again in the third B-CU opened the inning with back-to-back base hits as a single to left field from Geena Capitini and a shot to left center from Breanna Chavez put two runners on with no outs.
Senior Calesha Shelley reached first on a fielder's choice as Capitini was caught at third, followed by a throwing error from the Butler shortstop during Mariah Davis' at bat, which scored Chavez.
Sophia Ortega cleared her teammate from the bases after a two-RBI double to left field pushed the Wildcat lead to 4-0 heading into the fourth.
Despite leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, B-CU was able to plate one more run taking the 5-0 advantage before the Bulldogs ended their scoring drought in the sixth.
Three singles for Butler opened the top half of the six, loading the bases with no outs. Tight Wildcat defense held as B-CU added two outs to the board, not allowing any runners to advance. A Krosley Ogden single to left field for Butler ended the shutout for the Bulldogs as Butler added one to the board on four hits and left three stranded in the six frame.
B-CU answered in the bottom, as Capitini knocked in her third homer of the season with a shot over the left field fence. Chavez followed with a single to short, then was replaced on the bag with Ciera Banks as a pinch runner. Shelley legged out a bunt for a base hit, then took second on the throw, forcing Banks to third.
A sacrifice fly from Davis to center field scored Banks as Oretga's single up the middle scored Shelley, before the inning ended with three runs, four hits and one left on.
The Bulldogs were unable to close the gap in the top of the seventh as B-CU held on to the 8-1 game-two victory.
Chavez finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate for the Wildcats while Shelley, Ortega, Engram and Capitini all added two hits each to the 12 B-CU total.
Bailey Conner (3-4) threw a complete game for the Wildcats during the victory, allowing seven hits, four runs and three walks, while striking out two.
Bethune-Cookman returns to action on Thursday, March 19 as the Wildcats travel west for the Loyola Marymount Tournament in Los Angeles, California. B-CU will play four days of softball on the west coast giving the ten B-CU California natives a chance to play in front of a “home crowd”.
