DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  - The 2024 regular season comes to an end as Bethune-Cookman dropped both legs of a doubleheader to Jacksonville, Tuesday afternoon at Sunnyland Park. 



GAME ONE - JU 2, B-CU 1 (9 Inn.)

It was Bethune-Cookman (18-31, 16-8 SWAC) that plated the first runs of game one as Joslynn Davis singled, advanced on a fielders' choice, and came around to score on an RBI double by Brooklyn Scott.

The Wildcats threatened to pad their lead in the bottom of the third, loading the bases on two hits and a walk, but a foul-out ended the threat. 

Aysiah Gonzalez led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, advancing to third on a wild pitch as Jacksonville turned to the bullpen, but she was caught attempting to score on a fielders choice. 

Jacksonville (25-22, 13-8 ASUN) managed its first hit of the ballgame in the top of the fifth on a leadoff double. The Dolphins tied things at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly. 

B-CU challenged again in the bottom of the sixth, as back-to-back one out singles put runners at the corners. A strikeout and lineout kept things tied. 

Jacksonville put the leadoff runner on in the seventh, but the Dolphins could not score as the game headed to extras. 

With the ghost-runner rule in affect in extras, the Shanai Owens reached on a JU error and stole second to put runners on second and third with no outs. Jacksonville worked around the trouble to prolong the contest into the ninth. 

The Dolphins pushed the winning run across in the ninth on a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. Jacksonville worked around a walk, wild pitch, and error in the bottom of the inning to hold on for the 2-1 win. 

Halyne Gonzalez suffered the loss after nine strong innings in which she allowed only two runs - one earned, on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. 

GAME TWO - JU 11, B-CU 3 

Jacksonville opened the scoring in game two with a second inning two-out rally that begin with a hit by pitch and ended with an RBI single that made it 1-0. 

B-CU took that run right back and then one in the top of the second as Kendall Macauley took first on a short fly ball that dropped into right field. Shanai Owens followed with a bunt single before both came around to score on a passed ball and throwing error to put the Wildcats in front 2-1. 

Jacksonville loaded the bases in the top of the third on an error and a pair of hit batters before a single to move everyone up and tie the game at 2-2. A long single off the wall gave Jacksonville the lead at 3-2 with the bases still loaded and no one out.
 
A pair of groundouts and an error attempting to prevent a steal increased the JU lead to 6-2.

Brooklyn Scott led off the bottom of the inning with a double, coming around to score on a Macauley groundout to pull back to within 6-3. 

The JU offense continued to put pressure on, putting runners at the corners with no outs in the fourth. A walk loaded the bases with one away, but a fielders choice and flyout got B-CU out of the jam unscathed. 

The back-and-forth continued into the bottom of the fourth as the Cats put two aboard with no outs, but they could not scratch a run across. 

Jacksonville notched two more runs in the top of the sixth on a pair of bases-loaded RBI singles, leading to a move to the B-CU bullpen. They plated three more to go up 11-3. 

Ajah Mallary made the start in game two. In three innings, she allowed six runs - three earned, on four hits with a walk.

Alyssa Brady and Sofia Vallejos-Coleman wrapped things up out off the pen for B-CU. 

• Brooklyn Scott finished the day 5-7 with an RBI and two doubles.  
• Essence Gibbs recorded three hits on the day with a steal.
• Aysiah Gonzalez recorded a 3-5 day with a double.
• The Cats stranded 20 runners over two games. 

Tuesday's contests wraps up the regular season slate for B-CU. The Wildcats will enter the SWAC tournament as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the East Division, depending on the results of Jackson State vs. Alabama A&M Tuesday night. 

Depending on seeding, the Wildcats will open their run towards a first-ever SWAC title on Tuesday, May 7 at either 11:30 a.m. (No. 3 seed) or 2:00 p.m. EST (No. 2 seed) at the Gulfport Sportsplex in Gulfport, Miss. 


Follow Bethune-Cookman Softball on Twitter (@BCUSoftball) and Instagram (@BCUSoftball) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics) and www.bcuathletics.com.