DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Adonis Lao and Danny Rodriguez each produced multiple hits, while sophomore Tyler Krull went six strong innings on the mound to allow Bethune-Cookman a 9-2 non-conference baseball win over Dartmouth on Wednesday evening inside Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
 
For Bethune-Cookman, a night after losing a heartbreaker to UCF in 11 innings, Wednesday night's performance was everything head coach Jason Beverlin and his staff looked forward to in concluding a brutal 16-game homestand at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
 
Krull, a sophomore right-hander from West Palm Beach, Florida, collected his first quality start of the season. The Cardinal Newman High alum scattered five hits across six innings on the night, allowing just a single earned run in setting the stage for the Wildcats on the hill.
 
However, it would be visiting Dartmouth (7-5) jumping on the board first with a run in the top-half of the second inning. The Ivy League participants returned to Florida for the second this season after sweeping the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida at Mark Light Field to begin the 2017 campaign.
 
Designated hitter Mike Brown singled and advanced on a walk issued in the next at-bat to Dartmouth third baseman Blake Crossing, before Brown eventually made his way into scoring position on a fly out to right field. Brown scampered in from third with a sacrifice bunt laid down by Adam Gauthier, giving Dartmouth the 1-0 advantage.
 
Bethune-Cookman (15-7) answered with two runs in the home-half of the third inning to take the lead – one in which the Wildcats would not relinquish.
 
Back-to-back errors on Dartmouth allowed Chase DeBonis and Demetrius Sims to reach safely to initiate the Wildcats at-bat. A sacrifice bunt from junior right fielder Adonis Lao moved both runners 90 feet into scoring position, before junior third baseman Jameel Edney plated DeBonis with a RBI groundout to shortstop. The go-ahead run was scored by Sims off the end of a Danny Rodriguez single to left field.
 
BCU would lead it 2-1 after three innings played.
 
The Maroon and Gold increased the lead at 5-1 with three additional runs in the bottom of the fifth.
 
DeBonis walked to start the BCU at-bat, and Lao singled two plays later to put runners on the corners, allowing Edney to pick up his second RBI of the night – this time courtesy a sacrifice fly to centerfield allowing DeBonis to scurry in from third. Rodriguez then doubled to put two men in scoring position in order for junior left fielder Jordan Stacy to drive across Lao and Rodriguez for the 5-1 advantage.
 
It would be four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning that assured BCU the win – the sixth of its kind in the last seven games.
 
Lao plated two runs with a triple to the wall in left center. For the New York native, it was his first triple of the campaign. That pushed across Sims and second baseman Trent Nash and grew the Wildcats lead to 7-1, respectfully. Lao would score a pitch later as the fastball from Eric Stolt was wide the glove of reserve catcher Henry Eilen, putting BCU up, 8-1.
 
The final run for the Cats scored when Michael Deeb collected a RBI sac fly to plate Edney.
 
Dartmouth brought a run back in the top of the ninth, using two wild pitches from BCU reliever Danny Melgarejo to eventually score pinch runner Steffen Torgersen. He was in running for shortstop Nate Ostmo who walked to begin the inning for Dartmouth.
 
In the win, Krull improved his record to 2-1 on the year, going a season-long six innings on the bump. He would scatter five hits, walk three and strikeout two on the night.
 
In between Krull and Melgarejo was senior Marcellus Sneed throwing two innings, allowing just one hit in eight batters faced.
 
The loss went to Dartmouth starter Cole O'Connor, evening his record for the year at 1-1. O'Connor went 5.2 innings on the hill, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits, one walk and amassing a pair of strikeouts.
 
BCU was led offensively by Rodriguez, the 2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Player of the Year, as he went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored, adding one walk in the process. Backing him up was Lao with a 2-for-4 effort at the dish, supplying two RBIs and scoring two runs himself.
 
BCU gets back to MEAC play this weekend, traveling to North Carolina A&T for a three-game series set to begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m. The games will be played at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.