Tallahassee, Fla. – Joan Gonzalez provided seven masterful innings in relief and the Wildcats plated a pair in the ninth as they took down Florida A&M to open a crucial final regular season series, Thursday night in Tallahassee.
 
How It Happened
 
The Wildcats (23-28, 18-10 SWAC) opened the scoring with a run in the top of the second as Jeremy Garcia drove in Irvin Escobar from third.
 
FAMU (25-27, 18-20 SWAC) answered and took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run homer and an RBI groundout.
 
B-CU rallied in the fifth to tie things at 3-3. Malik Stephens scored Jeremy Garcia on a sacrifice fly and Matthew Garcia brought Franki Febles around to score on an RBI single.
 
The Wildcats took the lead for good in the ninth. A pair of singles put runners on first and second. Colton Olasin put B-CU on top with an RBI single that scored pinch-runner Yoansell Diaz. A Matthew Garcia bases-loaded walk put the Wildcats up two. FAMU could not answer and the Wildcats took the 5-3 series-opening victory.  
"We set the tone tonight," Wildcats head coach Jonathan Hernandez said after the game. "I'm very proud of the way our guys competed all afternoon against one of the better arms in our division. We stuck to our play and executed on all sides of the ball."
 
Louis Lipthratt made the start. He allowed three runs on three hits with three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a strikeout in two innings.
 
Joan Gonzalez took over in the third, spinning seven filthy innings in which he allowed only a single Rattler baserunner with nine punchouts in the best relief appearance by a Wildcat this season.
 
"Gonzalez was phenomenal," Hernandez said. "He was in control all afternoon."  
With the win, the Wildcats tie FAMU in the SWAC's East division standings. A win tomorrow would temporarily push them into the second spot in the division. B-CU needs a sweep to hold onto that spot, as FAMU would hold the tiebreaker in the event that the teams split the remaining two games.
 
"For us, it's all about momentum," Hernandez said. "We want to finish off our regular season and head into the tournament playing the best ball that we can."
 
Notes

• Malik Stephens has reached base safely in 24 straight games after a walk tonight.
• Stephens has 18 RBI over his last 13 games.
• Matthew Garcia went 2-4 with two RBI and a walk.
• Jeremy Garcia went 3-4 with Two runs scored and an RBI – He is second on the team with 3-hit games at four this season.

Up Next

The Wildcats can win the series and temporarily jump into second place in the SWAC's East division with a win tomorrow. Game two gets underway at 5 p.m.
 
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