HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Bethune-Cookman travels to Huntsville, Alabama, this weekend as the Wildcats prepare for a three-game Southwestern-Athletic Conference (SWAC) Softball series at Alabama A&M beginning Saturday March 23, at 1 p.m. ET. The series was moved up a day due to inclement weather in the Huntsville area on Friday.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 23
1 p.m. – at Alabama A&M | Live Stats
3:30 p.m. – at Alabama A&M | Live Stats
 
Sunday, March 24
11 a.m. – at Alabama A&M | Live Stats
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Bethune-Cookman Softball this season by following the Wildcats social media platforms. You can follow @BCUSoftball on Instagram and @BCUSoftball on Twitter.
 
STATS & NOTES
▪ Angelina Badalament was named SWAC Co-Pitcher of the Week this past week. In the pitcher's circle, the junior right-hander started two games and played in three overall. The Grace Christian School alum worked 14.1 innings and turned in a record of 1-2 with eight strikeouts and one walk.
▪ As a team, Bethune-Cookman is 3-0 on the season when leading after the first inning.
▪ Kallie Earlington arrives to Huntsville with a seven-game hitting streak intact, followed by Briana Velazquez with a five-game streak. Earlington has reached safely in her last eight games, respectively.
▪ Jessica Alaan and Thais Uyema each leads the Wildcats with four multi-hit performances on the season.
▪ Last weekend, Brooklyn Scott turned in two (2) doubles against Alabama State and upping her slugging percentage of .321 for the campaign.
▪ In her first year with the Maroon and Gold, Badalament owns a team-low 2.72 ERA and a 2-6 record, adding a team-low .268 average against from opponents.
▪ Junior pitcher Halyne Gonzalez has struck out 69 batters on the season in 85 innings of work.
▪ Uyema, a transfer from Purdue Fort Wayne, leads the Wildcats in batting (.279) and serves as the hardest player to strike out – with the Lima, Peru native having struck out just once in 61 at-bats this season.
▪ In the series-opening win from Alabama State a week ago, Head Coach Laura Watten collected her 500th win at Bethune-Cookman.
 
QUOTES FROM COACH WATTEN
"This is yet another challenge in SWAC play on the road, as Alabama A&M has played well despite being just 0-5 in league play. When you look at their games, they have played well against FAMU and Jackson State. We are going to have to play like we did the first two games last weekend at home."
 
"After a big weekend at home last weekend against a very good Alabama State team, you have to keep your focus and intensity up when you hit the road now. I always say that road games in this league are gritty, physical, tough contests that test you in every phase of the game. We have to bring good fielding, good approaches at the plate and good pitching to try and win the series away from home."
 
"Alabama A&M doesn't quit. They have [Cris'Deona] Beasley in the circle, and she has pitched well in a number of games for them. And you have [Allyson] Riches and Serena [Herbranson] that make them go offensively. So, if they can get some hits and then pitch well, then they're a problem for any team. You have to lock in against them right from the start, especially at their place."
 
SCOUTING ALABAMA A&M (4-13, 0-5 SWAC)
Rankings: USA Today/NFCA Coaches – NR | ESPN.com/USA Softball – NR
Interim Head Coach: Roy Foreman (1st season)
2024 Batting Average: .231; Runs Per Game: 2.6; Hits Per Game: 5.7; Slugging Percentage: .290
2024 ERA: 6.01; K/BB Ratio: 1.5; Opp. Batting Avg: .329
 
BCU VS. ALABAMA A&M SERIES
▪ In a series that dates back to 2005, Bethune-Cookman has an 11-2 record all-time against the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M.
▪ The Wildcats won eight consecutive from 2005 to 2023.
▪ Last year, BCU won four of six from the Bulldogs, including scoring 19 runs at home across the three games played at Sunnyland Park.
▪ In Huntsville in 2023, Alabama A&M won the opening game 5-4, before the Cats bounced back with a 14-0 and 3-2 win, respectively, to close out the series.
▪ Since joining the SWAC, BCU owns a 7-2 record against AAMU.
 
ALABAMA A&M NOTES & STATS
▪ The Bulldogs of Alabama A&M enter the weekend 4-13 overall, and just 0-5 in SWAC play.
▪ Alabama A&M has lost six consecutive games entering the series with Bethune-Cookman and sits 0-3 at home for the year.
▪ However, the Bulldogs have lost two SWAC games by a combined five runs, including a 2-0 setback last weekend away to Jackson State in the opening game of the series.
▪ Cris'Deona Beasley is the leader in the pitcher's circle for the Bulldogs as she holds a record of 3-4 for the season and uses an ERA of 3.09 entering the series.
▪ Paige Scott also returns to the circle from last season, as she uses a 7.28 ERA and a 1-4 record for the campaign.
▪ Allyson Riches and Serena Herbranson each lead AAMU with 12 hits, followed closely by Tori Green with 11.
▪ Green has a team-high eight runs, and Zahria Jones leads the squad with nine RBIs to her name.
▪ Interim Head Coach Roy Foreman is in his first season at the helm in Huntsville, Alabama.
▪ The Bulldogs have stolen 26 bases, as Green is a perfect 6-for-6 in that category. Iyanna Canada is 5 of 6 as well.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST ALABAMA A&M
Carrington Robinson pounded out three hits to lift Bethune-Cookman to a 3-2 series-clinching victory over Alabama A&M at Bulldog Field. In the win, Bethune-Cookman finishes the regular season having won seven of its eight Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series across the campaign.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Bethune-Cookman left fielder Carrington Robinson registered her first triple of the season to plate Kallie Earlington, who singled to lead off the inning for the Wildcats.
 
That tied the game at 1-all.
 
The Wildcats stepped in front at 2-1 in the top-half of the fifth, using a Jordyn Villanueva RBI single up the middle to cross Essence Gibbs, after the BCU designated player kicked off the frame with a single to left.
 
Host Alabama A&M knotted things up at 2-2 off the strength of centerfielder Allyson Riches' run-scoring single up the middle to bring around Calia Rooks in the bottom of the frame.
 
BCU would reclaim the lead at 3-2 in the top of the sixth as Kayla Traylor came in from third on a passed ball after working her way to third with a leadoff single and a single from Robinson, followed by a sacrifice bunt employed from Haley Parks.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs loaded the bases, but relief pitcher Victoria Guzman entered and got Dakota Daniels to ground out to close the inning.
 
The Wildcats defense once again stepped up in the seventh when the Bulldogs once again loaded the bases threatening to score. However, starting pitcher Halyne Gonzalez, having been brought back in to begin the at-bat, got Friday's hero Zahria Jones to foul out to first and end the contest.
 
Gonzalez picked up the win, her 14th of the season, throwing 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, three walks and two strikeouts. The loss went to AAMU pitcher Venice Sanders, dropping her to 1-3 for the year, after she worked the complete game, allowing three runs, 10 hits, four walks and recording two strikeouts.
 
Riches led the Bulldogs with three hits and a RBI, adding a run scored.
 
Meanwhile, the Maroon and Gold was sparked by Robinson's 3-for-3 performance at the dish, as well as an RBI. Essence Gibbs was 2-for-4 with a run, while Traylor and Villanueva each tallied two hits on the day as well.
 
UP NEXT
Bethune-Cookman returns home to Sunnyland Park on Easter weekend playing host to in-state SWAC foe Florida A&M for a three-game set. The series begins Friday, March 29 (3 p.m.) and continues March 30 (1 p.m.) with a doubleheader.
 
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS
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