DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman softball suffered a pair of setbacks as the Wildcats fell 3-2 and 5-2 to the Marist College Red Foxes on Tuesday, March 22 during a midweek, non-conference, home match up at Sunnyland Park.
Rookie Brianna Sanders collected three hits and two runs during the day, leading the 'Cats offensively.
Game One
After a one-two-three inning in the field opened the contest for the Wildcats, BCU struck first in the bottom half of the inning after rookie Annie Bakenhus led off with a single to left center.
Fellow outfielder Mariah Davis followed with a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher, moving Bakenhus into scoring position before she stole third during Iesha Water's at bat.
With one out, a wild pitch allowed Bakenhus cross the plate, giving the Wildcats the early 1-0 lead after one complete inning.
A scoreless second kept BCU on top, before the Red Foxes used a two-out rally and a Wildcat miscue to score a run in the top of the third.
With two outs, a throwing error from third base allowed Marist's leadoff batter Maureen Dubby to reach third base. Following the BCU mishandle, a RBI bunt for a single from the Red Fox's Claire Oberdorf allowed Dubby to score unearned, knotting the score at one.
Innings four and five remained scoreless for both squads as a Bakenhus throw from left field to home plate caught the Marist go ahead run in the top of the fifth.
Two hits, including a Krysten Van Natta double, gave the Red Foxes the 2-1 run advantage during the top of the sixth.
The Wildcats answered during the bottom half of the inning after Waters knocked in a double of her own to right center with one out, followed by a Sanders single to left field, forcing a Marist pitching change.
After Waters was caught at home following a Kaitlin Alamprese hit to third base, Sophia Ortega doubled to right field, scoring Sanders, tying the game at two before BCU left two stranded.
The Wildcats made a pitching change of their own in the bottom of the seventh as Bailey Conner headed to the mound with the No. 7 batter due up for Marist.
Conner struck out her first batter faced before a first baseman error gave the Red Foxes a baserunner with one out.
With runners on first and third and two outs on the board, Marist took the go ahead run after a wild pitch walked Van Natta and allowed Miranda Perez to score, unearned.
Trailing 3-2, BCU was unable to make anything happen in the bottom of the seventh after the Wildcat's 8-9-1 batters were retired in order.
Bailey Conner (1-3) suffered the BCU loss after facing six batters, giving up one hit, one run and one walk.
Sabrina Anguiano threw the first 6.0 innings for the Wildcats, allowing seven hits and two runs, while striking out two batters.
Game Two
Marist took a 5-0 lead after the first five innings of game two as the Wildcats struggled to get anything going offensively.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth chipped away at the Red Foxes lead after Alamprese singled up the middle.
Sanders followed with a single to the left field line before Waters used an RBI single to right field to score Alamprese.
Melissa Berouty collected her first hit of the afternoon with a single to left field, scoring Sanders, forcing a Marist pitching change.
A Bryanna Campos groundout ended the four hit, two run inning for the Wildcats, trailing 5-2 heading into the final inning.
Holding Marist at five runs in the top of the seventh, Wanda Darby led off with a single for BCU in the bottom half of the inning.
After Darby beat out Bakenhus' fielder's choice to second and stole third, three-straight groundouts left two runners on for BCU, falling 5-2.
Conner (1-4) and Anguiano split time on the mound during the game-two loss combining for three strikeouts, while allowing eight hits and five earned runs.
The Wildcats open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) action on Friday, March 25 as Bethune-Cookman hosts the Savannah State Tigers in double header action (1 p.m.) on Friday, followed by a single game at noon on Saturday (March 26).
