DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Michael Cruz and Danny Rodriguez each recorded home runs Friday afternoon as Bethune-Cookman completed a 9-7 come-from-behind victory over conference opponent North Carolina A&T in the first game of a three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series inside Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Bethune-Cookman (10-13, 3-4 MEAC) trailed for much of the game, and looked up at a 7-6 deficit heading into the home-half of the eighth inning.
Redshirt sophomore shortstop Demetrius Sims (Ann Arbor, Mich.) began the Wildcats at-bat in the eighth with a single up the middle. He would advance to third just moments later as North Carolina A&T (5-18, 1-3 MEAC) relief pitcher Robert Peck attempted to pickoff Sims at first. However, the ball went wide of Aggies first baseman Kyle Clary's glove, allowing Sims to scamper to third as the ball trickled into the North Carolina A&T bullpen.
Rakeem Quinn (Port St. Joe, Fla.) crossed Sims for the tying run in the next at-bat, using a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing the speedy Sims to knot the score at 7-all.
After sophomore second baseman Jameel Edney (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was hit by a pitch from Peck, junior designated hitter Michael Cruz (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico) delivered a two-run homer to right field – accounting for his seventh home run in the last five games.
That put B-CU on top for good, 9-7.
All-MEAC closer Clint Clymer (Ormond Beach, Fla.) worked the final two-thirds of the eighth, as well as the entire ninth, earning his first win of the season as he stranded a pair of Aggies in the top-half of the ninth, securing the 9-7 comeback win for the Wildcats.
Bethune-Cookman got on the board first in the second frame.
Catcher Clay Middleton (Oviedo, Fla.) lined a double off the left field wall, eventually coming around to score on consecutive groundouts that moved the redshirt junior up 90 feet at a time. It was Trent Nash (Decatur, Ga.) supplying the RBI groundout to short, putting the Wildcats on top, 1-0.
North Carolina A&T answered in the top of the third.
B-CU starter German Hernandez (Cleburne, Texas) walked Clary to begin the inning, while right fielder Dawnoven Smith tallied a rare inside the park home run in his at-bat. B-CU centerfielder Kyle Corbin (Orlando, Fla.) chased Smith's towering shot to straight-away center, but the sophomore transfer from Seminole State smacked off the center field wall, allowing the ball to fall between himself and left fielder Nathan Bond (Orlando, Fla.).
That put the Aggies up, 2-1.
N.C. A&T would score runs in each of the next four innings, giving the visitors a seemingly comfortable 7-2 edge heading into the stretch.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bethune-Cookman countered with four runs to cut into the lead, 7-6.
Quinn was hit by a pitch with one out. He advanced to third on the next play as North Carolina A&T shortstop Milton Rivera was tagged with an error as his throw to second trying to cut down Quinn went into right field. Quinn would score on the next play when Aggies starting pitcher Tevelle Clark posted a wild pitch to the backstop.
With Edney on base and Cruz walking in his at-bat, freshman first baseman Danny Rodriguez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) displayed his power with a three-run scoring home run to left center. For Rodriguez, it was his team second-best third home run of the season.
With the win, Clymer improved to 1-2. The Seabreeze High alum went 1.2 innings on the bump, allowing a single hit, walking one batter and striking out two. In a starting role, Hernandez went five frames on the bump, allowing five runs on six hits, walking a batter and striking out three.
The loss went to the Aggies reliever Peck, who fell to 1-2 on the year. Clark took a no-decision for the Aggies after pitching seven innings, giving up six runs (four earned) on nine hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
The B-CU offense was paced by Rodriguez with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate, adding a game-high tying three RBI and scoring twice. Middleton raised his hitting streak to 16 games, while teammates Cruz and Sims each tallied two hits apiece.
Severe weather in the Central Florida area forced the coaches and officials to suspend the second game of Friday's originally scheduled doubleheader.
The two teams will meet Saturday at 11 a.m., concluding the three-game set with a doubleheader back at inside Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The second game of the doubleheader will begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
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