GREENSBORO, N.C. –Bethune-Cookman needed only eight innings to post a big road victory at North Carolina A&T State in a 13-2 trouncing Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.Â
BCU (16-29, 9-11 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) never trailed and racked up 16 hits in a run-rule shortened contest. Zach Spivey was one of three Wildcats with a three-hit day, and led the game with four RBI. The 16 hits and 13 runs were the most allowed by NCA&T (22-19, 10-6) this season and the Aggies' largest margin of defeat in MEAC action since a 13-1 BCU victory nearly two years ago on Apr. 29, 2017.
On the mound, Brady Norris posted another quality start by limiting NCA&T to two runs over six innings. Norris (2-0) worked around eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Spivey again took liftoff in the Tar Heel State when he took a 1-2 pitch out of the park for his third homer of the year. The second-inning three-run shot proved to be all the Wildcats needed.
The scoring then continued with at least a run in every inning. Over Torres joined the launch party in the third with a solo blast. Fielding errors by Aggie shortstop Dustin Baber plated BCU runs in the fourth and sixth, and Joe Fernando produced an RBI groundout in the fifth.Â
The Wildcats hung a crooked number in the seventh. Chase DeBonis smacked an RBI double for one of his three hits, and Josten Heron's RBI single was also one of his trio. Spivey scored on a wild pitch, and again Torres reached on a Baber error that also allowed a run to score.
The visitors took the mercy-rule lead in the eighth on Clarence Carter's RBI single and Spivey's RBI groundout.
Relievers Alec Mendez and Carlos Lequerica each threw a hitless inning and Mendez added a strikeout.
Aggie starter Evan Gates (4-2) was tagged with the loss. He gave up five earned runs off eight hits in four frames.
BCU continues the three-game series at North Carolina A&T with a rubber match Sunday.
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