BOCA RATON, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman opened its 2023 softball season on Friday, taking part in the Paradise Classic hosted by Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida. The Wildcats dropped the first game to Iowa 8-0, before suffering a 9-2 setback at the hands of 23rd-ranked Mississippi State in the nightcap, with both games taking place at FAU Softball Stadium.
 
GAME ONE – Iowa 8, BCU 0
Desirae Martinez went 1-for-2 at the plate Friday afternoon as Bethune-Cookman dropped its season-opener to Iowa 8-0 in five innings at the Paradise Classic hosted by Florida Atlantic inside FAU Softball Stadium.
 
Iowa (2-0) plated five runs in the top-half of the opening frame with back-to-back walks drawn by the Hawkeyes first baseman Sammy Diaz and Jalen Adams with the bases loaded, respectfully. That allowed both Nia Carter and Tory Bennett to score for the early lead. Avery Jackson's sacrifice fly made it 3-0, while Tatianna Roman drove in Diaz on a single to left in the next at-bat.
 
Carter picked up a RBI with a bases loaded walk that crossed pinch runner Haley Downe for the 5-0 Hawkeyes advantage.
 
Bethune-Cookman (0-1) starting pitcher Victoria Guzman worked 3.1 innings for the Maroon and Gold, before being relieved by Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason All-Conference member Halyne Gonzalez who went the final 1.2 innings in the circle.
 
The Hawkeyes added three more runs in the top-half of the fourth inning, including a Jackson RBI single to left that scored Bennett – after she tripled in her at-bat.
 
Desirae Martinez picked up the lone hit for the Wildcats with her leadoff single to right in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Iowa's Bennett produced a 3-for-3 day at the dish with two runs and a RBI. Roman finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while right fielder Carter was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored at the top of the lineup for the Hawkeyes.
 
The win went to Iowa's Jalen Adams (1-0) as she worked five inning in the circle, allowing just the one hit and walking one batter. The loss went to Guzman (0-1), with the San Jose, California fifth-year hurler being touched for seven earned runs on five hits and six walks.
 
GAME TWO – No. 23 Mississippi State 9, BCU 2
Bethune-Cookman scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, but No. 23 Mississippi State used a five-run second inning to turn back the Wildcats upset bid as the Bulldogs roared back to a 9-2 win in what was the second of two games on the evening for BCU Softball as part of the Paradise Classic housed at FAU Softball Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida.
 
BCU (0-2) got on the board first with a two-run top of the first inning.
 
Desirae Martinez singled through the left side to cross both Katelynn Perez and Haley Parks, with Perez serving as a pinch runner for Kallie Earlington who walked in her at-bat.
 
Mississippi State (3-0) answered in the bottom of the frame when Matalasi Faapito's sacrifice fly to deep right field was enough to see Macy Graf race in for the score from third. Graf led off the Bulldogs at-bat with a single to center.
 
BCU led 2-1 after an inning in the books.
 
However, the Bulldogs would add five runs on the board in order to break the game open.
 
Graf kicked off the scoring with a bases-loaded RBI single to center that pushed across first baseman Riley Hull, followed on the next play by Chloe Malau'ulu's RBI single to right that scored Aquana Brownlee. Faapito's two-run scoring single was the big blow of the inning, putting the Bulldogs up 6-2 at that point.
 
After MSU tacked on a run in the fourth, the Bulldogs closed out the game's scoring with a pair of runs in the home-half of the fifth.
 
Chloe Malau'ulu drove in Brownlee, and it was Brylie St. Clair coming in to score on the very next play courtesy a wild pitch.
 
MSU was led at the plate by the bat of Graf, as she turned in a 3-for-4 performance at the dish, adding three runs and a RBI. Malau'ulu finished with a two-hit game as she also produced a run and drove in two. Teammate St. Clair also had a 2-for-3 effort at the plate with two runs scored.
 
BCU was charged by Martinez and catcher Jordyn Villanueva with a hit each, as Martinez also drive in two runs.
 
The win went to MSU's Josey Marron, as she picked up her first decision of the young season, working five innings, allowing just the two first-inning runs on two hits, two walks and striking out a game-high nine batters. Meanwhile, BCU sophomore pitcher Halyne Gonzalez accepted the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season, as she went just two innings in the circle, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks.
 
Bethune-Cookman is back in action on Saturday at the Paradise Classic when the Cats face off against Stony Brook (4:30 p.m.) and Loyola (9:30 p.m.), respectfully.
 
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