DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The longest homestand of the season continues for B-CU as they host the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M for a three-game Easter weekend series Thursday-Saturday, March 28-30 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Tickets start at just $10. Admission is free with a student ID.
Thursday-Saturday March 28-30
Opponent: Alabama A&M (3-20, 1-5 SWAC)
Time: 7 p.m. | 6 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Jackie Robinson Ballpark
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/cateyenetwork
A ninth-inning solo shot proved to be the difference as USF escaped Daytona Beach with a midweek win over Bethune-Cookman, Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
After stranding a pair of runners on base in the first, the Wildcats fell behind early as USF scored three runs in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly and two-run homer.
The Bulls stranded runners in the third, fourth, and fifth before making it 4-0 on an RBI groundout in the fifth.
The Wildcats finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth as back-to-back singles to leadoff the inning resulted in a
Garrett Chun RBI groundout to make it a 4-1 game.
A half-inning later, USF grabbed another run on a fielder's choice to grow the lead to 5-1.
B-CU rallied in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of the Bulls bullpen for four runs. After back-to-back singles to start the frame and a sacrifice bunt put
Jorge Rodriguez and
Daniel Figueroa at second and third,
Ramses Cordova brought Figueroa in with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
A Bulls fielding error put runners on the corners before
Colton Olasin stole second.
Sergio Rivera plated both on an RBI single through the left side of the infield. He came around to score on a Chun RBI single to tie things at 5-5.
USF threatened again in the seventh, as a pair of walks put runners on with two outs, but a flyout ended the inning. The Bulls stranded two more in the eighth.
A solo homer was the difference as USF led off the top of the ninth with a ball over the wall in left field to make it 6-5.
B-CU showed life in the bottom of the ninth with two outs.
Jose Gonzalez reached on a two-out error before
Jayme Villafane stole second, and
Manny Souffrain and
Daniel Figueroa worked back-to-back two-out walks. A swinging strikeout stopped the rally short as USF held on for the win.
In his first start as a Wildcat,
Colby Lipovsky tossed 3.2 innings, allowing three runs - all earned - on four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Jeffrey Gonzalez took the loss after allowing the solo shot.
Carlos Jazmin,
Patrick Groark, and
Pablo Torres also appeared out of the pen for B-CU.
Alabama A&M is just 3-20 on the season and 1-5 in SWAC play. They enter Thursday after a 16-1 loss to UAB in Birmingham. The Bulldogs' lone conference win came last weekend, when they took down Alabama State, 3-1.
AAMU is batting .220 as a team on the year, the 10th-best mark in the SWAC. Junior outfielder Alex Diaz leads the Bulldogs, hitting .300. Junior utility man Tristan Curless leads the Bulldogs with 15 RBI on rhe year.
On the mound, they have a second-worst ERA in the conference at 9.84, striking out 133 to 145 walks as a staff.
- Jose Gonzalez has reached base in 21 straight games.
- Head coach Jonathan Hernandez is five wins away from 100 in his career.
- B-CU has the best ERA in the conference at 4.46
Thursday will mark the 19th meeting between B-CU and AAMU. B-CU has won 15 of 18 games in the series.
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--#HailWildcats—