DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman celebrated the outstanding careers of four seniors in style Sunday afternoon with senior Kailey Richard's eighth inning walk-off double to left center that gave BCU a 4-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series-clinching victory against North Carolina Central at Sunnyland Park.
 
GAME THREE: BCU 4, NCCU 3
Jacki Smith began the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff bunt single, and took second on an Iesha Waters sacrifice bunt. That set the tone for Richard's RBI double to score Smith and give BCU a comeback victory. 
 
BCU's Alexis Bermudez left after a leadoff single by Ava Dolan to begin the eighth. She allowed three earned off seven hits with four walks and a strikeout. Reliever Destiny Enriquez (6-6) worked out of an eighth inning jam by stranding a pair of Eagles in scoring position following her three-pitch strikeout of Miriam Duen.
 
NCCU's Courtney Mirabella (8-12) lasted 7.1 innings in the loss, with her four earned runs coming off eight hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts.  
 
Bethune-Cookman (21-23, 6-3 MEAC) rallied in the seventh to force extras.
 
With one out, Taylor Sherritt walked in four pitches. Pinch hitter Yvonne Siordia grounded out to second but moved Sherritt up a bag in the process. Up next, senior left fielder Mariah Davis singled up the middle and Sherritt beat the throw home to cut the deficit to a single run. With Davis at second following the throw, Cheyenne Smith battled hard in a 1-2 count and eventually drove in the tying run on a double to left.
 
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the first when Iesha Waters clubbed a double to center field. Her team-leading ninth two-bagger of the spring plated Jacki Smith, who had singled and swiped second base.
 
Bermudez was in control through three innings. She allowed just a hit with a walk and a strikeout, but the fourth inning saw NCCU (9-20, 2-7 MEAC) even the score.
 
Ava Dolan reached with a leadoff single, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Zakiya Smith entered to pinch run, and made her way to third on a single by Aiyana Campbell. Smith scored when pinch runner Kelsey Locklear attempted to steal second but was called out and Smith raced in before the throw from second. 
 
Bermudez rebounded in the top of the fifth that included a phenomenal diving snag in center by Ryan Jackson. 
 
Meanwhile, Mirabella did not allow a baserunner after her rocky first inning until Sherritt's hard groundball single to second to begin the home-half of the fifth. She reached second on a Davis groundout, but the Wildcats could not plate in the leading run and the score remained tied.
 
NCCU grabbed the lead in the sixth when Aleyah Evans sprinted in from third to score off a Bermudez wild pitch. Evans later gave the visitors a two-run advantage when she scored on a double steal with Dalika Wallace.
 
In total, NCCU scored twice with just one hit in the inning.
 
Jackson led a sixth inning Wildcats rally when she sent a 2-1 pitch into center field for a leadoff single. She reached second with Jacki Smith's sacrifice bunt, and made her way to third later on a passed ball. However, Mirabella kept the Wildcats from answering with a strikeout and pop-up to end the sixth.
 
The Wildcats play next on April 14 at South Carolina State. The three-game series in Orangeburg, South Carolina gets underway with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.
 
GAME TWO: BCU 8, NCCU 2
In a game that began a day earlier and was picked up in the top of the sixth on Sunday afternoon, Bethune-Cookman tied the series with North Carolina Central in 8-2 fashion at Sunnyland Park in Daytona Beach, Florida. The game made it to the top of the sixth inning on Saturday until the second weather delay of the game forced the contest to be continued on Sunday.
 
Bethune-Cookman scored four runs in the opening frame and never looked back.
 
Ryan Jackson stole home on a double steal alongside Jacki Smith swiping second, followed by Iesha Waters' RBI bunt that plated Smith. Kailey Richard added a single to right to score Waters, before Mariah Davis' single to deep center brought around Richard for the 4-0 advantage in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
 
The Wildcats added three runs in the bottom of the second to extend the lead at 7-1 as North Carolina Central brought back one in the top of the inning.
 
With the bases loaded, Jackson would score on a Richard sacrifice fly to left, followed by an Alexis Bermudez RBI grounder to shortstop that was good enough to drive across Jacki Smith. Cheyenne Smith scored earlier in the inning on a wild pitch from NCCU starter Claire Eosso.
 
BCU used another run in the bottom of the fourth as a Richard single to left plated Waters for the 8-1 Wildcats lead.
 
The visiting Eagles produced the 8-2 final score with a run in the top of the fifth as an Ava Dolan single was good to score catcher Kaitlyn Macon.
 
The win was picked up by Destiny Enriquez (5-7) as she worked the final five innings in relief of starter Mariah Estrada. Enriquez allowed just one run on four hits scattered, two walks and two strikeouts. The loss went to NCCU starter Eosso (0-6) as she spent an inning in the circle, allowing six runs on five hits and a walk.
 
BCU was led at the plate by Smith with a 3-for-4 afternoon and two runs scored. Waters and Richard each tallied a pair of hits, with Richard adding three RBIs to boot. Cheyenne Smith also collected two hits in four at-bats.
 
Bethune-Cookman Softball on Twitter (@BCUSoftball) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics), Snapchat (@BCUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/BCUathletics).