DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Wildcats turned to some heads-up baserunning to take a back-and-forth series opener against Alabama A&M, 8-7, Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark .



AAMU (3-21, 1-6 SWAC) took a first-inning lead after leading off the contest with a walk and single before another pair of singles plated a pair of runs with two-outs in the first.

The Bulldogs added a run in the third on a sacrifice fly that made it 3-0.

 Wildcats (13-11, 5-1 SWAC) managed only a pair of baserunners through the first three innings before finally rallying in the fourth for three runs on five straight one-out singles. Colton Olasin collected the firt RBI on a single to center, followed by a two-RBI knock from Daniel Figueroa. 

Alabama A&M quickly responded with two more runs in the top of the fifth, as the Bulldogs opened the frame with three straight hits. An RBI fielder's choice made it a 5-3 game.

The Wildcats tied things up once again in the bottom of the fifth as Garrett Chun singled, advanced ot second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Manny Souffrain RBI single. Jose Gonzalez came around to score on a sacrifice fly to even things up at 5-5. 

B-CU jumped in front for the first time in the bottom of the seventh as Manny Souffrain punched a leadoff double into left center field. The first baseman stole third base - his first steal in over a year - and scored on a Ramses Cordova sacrifice fly. A double steal brought Irvin Escobar home as Olasin escaped a rundown to take second. 

The Bulldogs scored a run in the eighth and ninth to tie things yet again, this time at 7-7. 

Another leadoff double for Souffrain kicked off the bottom of the night for B-CU. A pitching change for AAMU saw the AAMU first baseman take over on the mound before Escobar moved pinch runner AJ smith up to third on a sacrifice bunt. 

Cordova worked a walk ans stole second before Olasin was intentionally walked to set up a force out at every base.

With Daniel Figueroa at the plate, Smith bluffed a steal, breaking for home and forcing the AAMU reliever into a balk, moving runners up a bag and plating the winning run as the Cats took the opener, 8-7. 

Joel Core made the start for B-CU. He took a no-decision after four innings of work in which he allowed five runs - all earned - on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts. 

Pablo Torres was awarded the win after allowing one earned run in 1.2 innings with two strikeouts. 

• Jose Gonzalez and Manny Souffrain each enjoyed 3-5 nights, with Souffrain collecting a pair of doubles and a steal.
• Ramses Cordova and Daniel Figueroa contributed two RBIs each. 
• Irvin Escobar, Colton Olasin, and Danile Figueroa rounded out the Wildcats with multi-hit nights. 
• Jose Gonzalez extended hit on-base streak to 22 straight games after a 3-hit night. 
•  The Wildcats walked only three times on the night. 

First pitch of game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. Friday. 

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