HUNTSVILLE, Ala.– In a night full of offense, the Wildcats rallied late to take down Alabama A&M in game one of a three-game series, Thursday night at Bulldog Field.



The Wildcats (17-13, 8-2 SWAC) started hot with a four-run first inning. Boris Pena cleared the bases with a double to left that made it 3-0, and Derek Cintron singled him home after a Bulldog error that made it 4-0.
 
AAMU (11-16, 2-8 SWAC) countered with a five-run second inning on an RBI double, Wildcat error, balk, and two-run homer.
 
Robert Moya doubled in the fourth, scoring Pena. Manny Souffrain followed that up with a double of his hime to bring Moya home and make it 6-5, B-CU.
 
The Bulldogs matched again with an RBI triple that scored a pair to give AAMU the 7-6 lead in the fourth.
 
The Wildcats tied things again a half-inning later, as Pena's sacrifice fly made it 7-7. Pena sacrificed again in the seventh, scoring Garrett Chun to make it 8-7.
 
Alabama A&M retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly and a groundout to make it 9-8.
 
B-CU ended the back-and-forth in the ninth, scoring four runs on a Souffrain double, Irvin Escobar Double, and Cintron sacrifice fly that made it 12-9.
 
AAMU let out one final effort with an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, but they could not complete the comeback, falling 12-10.
 
The Wildcats turned to a bullpen game in light of some rainy weather, opting to start Louis Lipthratt over usual weekend-opener Nolan Santos. Litpratt, Pablo Torres, and Dale Michaud took the Wildcats into the seventh.
 
Joan Gonzalez took over to start the seventh. He tossed the final three innings, allowing a lone unearned run, and striking out three as he took the win.

 

 

• Boris Pena finished the night 1-3 with a run scored, five RBI, and a walk.
• The top five in the B-CU batting order all recorded two runs scored.
• Manny Souffrain went 3-6 with three RBI.
• Irvin Escobar and Derek Cintron also added multiple RBI for the Wildcats

Game two of the three-game series is set for 3 p.m. EST Friday.
 

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