Daytona Beach, Fla. – A back-and-forth game went the way of Alabama A&M as the Bulldogs broke through a tie with an RBI triple to take down the Wildcats, 5-4, Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
 
How It Happened
 
Alabama A&M (13-32, 9-17 SWAC) grabbed an early lead, loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch, single, and intentional walk. A  pair of one-out RBI singles and a bases-loaded walk made it 3-0, quickly.
 
The Wildcats (22-28, 16-10 SWAC) grabbed two runs back in the bottom half of the first as Malik Stephens was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a throwing error. Irvin Escobar drove in Garcia two batters later with a single up the middle that made it 3-2.

Manny Souffrain tied the game in the third with a single that scored Christopher Patterson. The Wildcats would go on to load the bases, but they could not take the lead.
 
The Bulldogs broke the tie an inning later with a double steal that made it 4-3.
 
B-CU tied things up again in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Boris Peña.
 
Things were quiet again until the top of the ninth, when an RBI triple pushed the winning run across for the Bulldogs.
 
The Wildcats stranded a runner on third in the ninth as the Bulldogs held on to win, 5-4.
 
"If we're just a little bit better, we come out with the win tonight," Wildcats head coach Jonathan Hernandez said after the game. "We'll look forward to the opportunity to win the series tomorrow."
 
Nolan Santos returned to his Saturday spot and made the start. In six full innings of work, he allowed four runs on four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
 
With his seventh strikeout in the top of the fifth, Santos collected his 100^th strikeout of the season, becoming one of only a dozen pitchers across all of NCAA D1 baseball to eclipse triple digits thus far on the season.
 
Gabriel Perez took over in the seventh. He pitched 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and a walk with two punchouts.
 
Amir Asghar took the loss after allowing the winning run on one hit with a strikeout in the ninth. Brenton Fisher allowed a hit and struck out one.
 
"We have to just keep playing the game we play," Hernandez said. "The message stays the same – we have to show up, get to work, and respond to adversity going forward."
 
Notes

• Christopher Patterson went 2-5 with two runs scored.
• Irvin Escobar went 3-4 with an RBI.
• Malik Stephens has reached base safely in 20  straight games after a walk tonight.
• Stephens swiped a pair of bags for the first time since April 23.

 
Up Next

The Wildcats will look to win the series tomorrow in the 2022 home finale. That game gets underway at 1 p.m.     
 
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