DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Softball snapped a 17-game losing skid with a doubleheader sweep of George Mason in the 2016 home-opener for the Wildcats on Wednesday, March 9, at Sunnyland Park. The Wildcats collected the first game, 8-1, before grabbing a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 8, GEORGE MASON 1 (Game One)
Junior pitcher Sabrina Anguiano went the distance in the circle, while five different Wildcats tallied hits to help Bethune-Cookman grab an 8-1 victory in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon against George Mason at Sunnyland Park in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Anguiano (Hacienda Heights, Calif.) allowed a run in the opening half-inning, but settled in nicely to allow just four hits the rest of the way in the complete game victory.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Kailey Richard (Highland, Calif.) reached on a dropped fly ball by George Mason second baseman McKenzie Jones, allowing Brianna Sanders (San Marcos, Calif.) to score from third. However, Jones would throw to third trying to get right fielder Kaitlin Alamprese (Chino, Calif.) at the bag, but Jones' throw was over the head of Breanna Boyd, allowing Alamprese to score as well with the ball going off the fence and into the Wildcats' dugout.
Bethune-Cookman would hold a 2-1 lead after two innings of play.
In the fifth inning, B-CU exploded for six runs, vaulting the Wildcats to an insurmountable 8-1 advantage.
Sophomore third baseman Bryanna Campos (Pico Rivera, Calif.) began the Wildcats at-bat with a leadoff home run to left field, pushing the B-CU lead to 3-1.
After left fielder Annie Bakenhus (Yucaipa, Calif.) reached on an error and advanced with a wild pitch from George Mason (7-6) starting pitcher Gabriella Lopez, centerfielder Mariah Davis (Madera, Calif.) plated Bakenhus with a RBI single back up the middle. Davis would later steal third and advance home on one of five (5) errors charged to the Patriots in the game.
Second baseman Sophia Ortega (Highland, Calif.) plated the next run with her first triple of the season, lining a ball to the fence down the right field line, crossing Sanders for the score. Bailey Conner (Encinitas, Calif.) drove in Ortega with a RBI groundout to short, giving B-CU the 8-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth inning.
Anguiano, a preseason All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection as a pitcher, tallied her first win on the campaign, moving her record to 1-10. In the process, she worked all seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking one and striking out three.
The loss went to GMU's Lopez who evened her record at 1-1 on the year. She allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits and walked two in four innings of work. Sarah Kleinfelter tossed the final two innings in the circle for the Patriots, giving up three unearned runs on one hit with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
Ortega led the Wildcats at the dish with a 1-for-2 game, scoring a run and driving in another. Campos finished the game 1-for-3, highlighted by the solo home run in the fifth. And it was Davis finishing 1-for-3 with a run and a RBI as well.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 3, GEORGE MASON 2 (Game Two)
Melissa Berouty and Bryanna Campos tallied a pair of hits each, while Bailey Conner and Sabrina Anguiano combined for time in the pitcher's circle to help Bethune-Cookman to a 3-2 win over George Mason in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Sunnyland Park in Daytona Beach, Florida. The win gave the Cats their first doubleheader sweep of the season.
Bailey Conner got the nod in the pitcher's circle for the second game from second-year head coach Laura Watten.
The La Costa Canyon High School product cruised through her first three innings, as Bethune-Cookman (5-18) grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the game.
Bryanna Campos and Annie Bakenhus singled to kick off the bottom of the third. After a hit into no-man's land for first baseman Iesha Waters (Riverside, Calif.) over the head of second baseman Jess Middleton of the Patriots, all runners would advance a base as George Mason (7-7) starting pitcher Marina Vitalich was called for a balk as she dropped the ball out of her glove after coming set for the pitch.
That gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Following a walk issued to Kaitlin Alamprese, second baseman Sophia Ortega drove a Vitalich 1-1 pitch deep to the right field wall over the head of GMU right fielder Sarah Solano, allowing the Bishop Amat High alum her second extra-base hit of the day. The hit drove across B-CU base runners Waters and Mariah Davis, respectively.
Bethune-Cookman led 3-0 heading into the third inning.
Conner saw her first trouble of the game in the top-half of the fourth.
The first three batters for the Patriots reached safely, including an error charged to the B-CU infield on a sacrifice attempt by GMU's Casey Price. With the bases loaded and no outs, Conner retired the next three batters in order to keep the visitor's off the scoreboard and escape the bases loaded, no outs jam.
The Patriots would finally get to Conner in the top of the sixth.
Left fielder Julia Czarnecki tripled to lead off the inning, but Waters would cut down Czarnecki on the next play as she threw home to Melissa Berouty for the tag at the plate.
The next batter, first baseman Samantha Zaccari, would double to left, plating Price on the play for the Patriots' first score. Catcher Brooke Sullivan would trade places with Zaccari as she tallied a double to left for a RBI hit of her own.
That spawned a pitching change as Sabrina Anguiano toed the rubber in relief action, as she was inserted in the flex position to start the game. Anguiano would get two of the next three batters, including a strikeout to retire the side, keeping her side ahead on the scoreboard, 3-2.
Conner collected the win to improve to 1-2 on the year, while Anguiano picked up her first save of the campaign. Conner tossed 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out two Patriots and walking another. Meanwhile, it was Anguiano working 1.2 innings, striking out three batters and giving up just two hits.
The loss went to Vitalich, dropping her to 3-4 on the season, as she went the distance and allowed three runs on eight hits, walked three and fanned four batters.
The Maroon and Gold were paced at the plate by three players with two hits apiece in the nightcap, including Waters and Berouty who finished 2-for-3, respectfully. Campos went a perfect 2-for-2, and it was Ortega driving in a pair of runs on a 1-for-2 showing at the dish.
The Wildcats return to the field on Thursday, March 10, playing host to Tennessee-Martin at Sunnyland Park. First pitch in the single game affair is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Admission to all B-CU home softball games is free.
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