DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Boris Pena drove in four runs and
Chase DeBonis went 3-3 as Bethune-Cookman concluded an opening weekend sweep with a 15-7 victory over Alabama A&M Sunday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Seven Wildcats produced RBI as BCU capitalized on 11 walks, with six runs scored by those who drew a base on balls.
BCU jumped out to a 5-0 second inning lead after loading the bases via walks. Pena doubled to drive in two, then
Josten Heron followed with a two-run triple and then scored on a fielder's choice.
Alabama A&M closed to 5-4 in the top of the fifth, but BCU responded with six runs of its own.
A DeBonis single, followed by a
Fabian Escalante RBI by hit pitch, a Pena two-run single, a
Matthew Garcia bases-loaded walk and an
Enrique Porchas RBI single put BCU ahead 11-4.
In the eighth, Escalante had an RBI single and Anthony O'Dea a bases-loaded triple to conclude the scoring.
Escalante, DeBonis and
Rafael Padilla each scored three times.
Freshman
Alejandro Valiente picked up the win with his five innings of work.
Nolan Santos,
Ryan Ayrey,
Carlos Lequerica (two strikeouts) combined for three innings of no-hit relief while
Seth Lovell worked the ninth.
For the series, DeBonis led the Wildcats with a .667 clip (6-9) while Ayrey was 4-6 with three doubles. Garcia had six RBI as the team hit .307 with 34 runs scored.
BCU hosts FIU Tuesday.