TAMPA – A six-run third inning was too much for Bethune-Cookman to overcome Thursday evening, as the Wildcats softball team dropped a 10-0 decision away to South Florida in five innings at USF Softball Stadium as part of the USF-Rawlings Invitational.
 
South Florida (2-0) grabbed the early lead in the home-half of the first inning.
 
The Bulls put pressure on junior right-hander Angelina Badalament in her first-ever start for the Wildcats, as runners stood on second and third with one out following a wild pitch from the Plant City, Florida native. A Marissa Trivelpiece sacrifice fly to left field was deep enough to push across leadoff batter Alexa Galligani from third – despite the throw from left fielder Brooklyn Scott being on target to catcher Thais Uyema behind the plate. Badalament then settled down to get the final out and keep the BCU deficit at 1-0 at the end of the first inning.
 
USF widened the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the third when a grounder to short was misplayed on the throw to first, and the Bulls scored two on the error.
 
Olivia Elliott singled to begin the at-bat for the Bulls, followed by an Alanah Rivera single through the left side past the dive of Jessica Alaan at short. A Trivelpiece sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, setting the stage for Camille Martinez to reach safely on the error, and both base runners scoring safely on the Bethune-Cookman (1-1) miscue.
 
A fielder's choice RBI to first from second baseman Kathy Garcia-Soto plated Martinez unearned from third after the bases became loaded with one away. That was immediately followed by Allana Consolazio's hard shot single to left to bring in Bailey Drapola for the 5-0 Bulls advantage.
 
The night was finished for Badalament in her BCU debut after two additional two-out runs scored courtesy Elliott's two-run scoring hit to second as both Consolazio and Garcia-Soto came around to make it 7-0. For Elliott, it was her second time batting in the inning as the homestanding Bulls batted around in the frame.
 
The Bulls added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the run-rule into effect.
 
The win was collected by USF starter Julia Apostolakos (1-0) as she tossed four no-hit innings with no strikeouts and three walks issued. The loss was credited to BCU starter Badalament (0-1) as she worked just 2.2 innings with seven runs allowed (three earned), one strikeout and four walks.
 
USF was led at the dish by Elliott and Rivera with two hits apiece, as Elliott added two RBIs as well.
 
BCU is back in action Friday as the Cats continue play at the USF-Rawlings Invitational against Oregon State at 12:30 p.m.
 
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