ATLANTA - The Wildcats begin their quest back to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship game as they open the 2024 SWAC tournament against No. 3 seed in the West Division, Prairie View A&M, Wednesday, May 22 at 9 a.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Four Wildcats took home All-SWAC honors Tuesday as Tanner Boccabello, Pablo Torres, and Jose Gonzalez were named First-Team All-SWAC at starting pitcher, relief pitcher, and designated hitter, respectively, while Manny Souffrain was named to the All-SWAC Second Team at first base.

Boccabello was named SWAC Newcomer of the Year, while Pablo Torres was named SWAC Relief Pitcher of the Year.

Fans can stream the games this week live on swac.org/watch. Fans can instead listen to the game at Youtube.com/Cateyenetwork, or live locally on Daytona Beach airwaves at 1380 WELE.



Wednesday, May 22
Opponent: #3 Prairie View (29-24, 18-9 SWAC)
Time: 9 a.m. EST 
Location: Atlanta, GA | Russ Chandler Stadium
Tickets: swac.org/tickets
Watch: swac.org/watch
Listen: Youtube.com/Cateyenetwork
Live Stats: swac.org/livestats



Bethune-Cookman clinched the SWAC Eastern Division's No. 2 seed with a 10-0 run-rule win over Alabama State on senior day, Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. 

Alabama State put a pair of runners on thanks to some two-out hitting, but Wildcat starer Daniel Gaviria held firm to keep the Hornets off the board. 

after three full scoreless, managing only one hit, Bethune-Cookman put its first leadoff runner on base to start the bottom of the fourth as Garrett Chun singled. A groundout and Alabama State error moved Chun over to third before Jorge Rodriguez put the Cats on the board with an RBI single. 

The Wildcats put up a crooked number in the fifth as senior Franki Febles led off the frame with a hit-by-pitch. A single, walk, and another hit batter allowed Chun to push a run across on a bases-loaded walk with no one out. 

Another senior, Jason Hodges, recorded an RBI of his own as he forced a Hornets throwing error to move everybody up still with no one out. After a pair of B-CU outs, Rodriguez made the Hornets pay with a triple to right center that cleared the bases and put the Wildcats up 6-1.

As Gaviria continued to cruise on the mound, The Wildcats put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a four-spot off the Hornets bullpen. Again B-CU led things off with a Febles hit-by-pitch and Olasin single before a sacrifice bunt put the runners in scoring position with one away.

Another Chun RBI, this time on a fieder's choice, scored one before Hodges singled home Olasin on a bunt.

A pickoff attempt by the Alabama State catcher sailed into left field, allowing both Hodges and Chun to score to make it a clean 10-0 lead for the Wildcats.

Alabama State could not answer as they were forced into run-rule submission after seven full. 

Daniel Gaviria was stellar in his final senior start. In his second seven-inning complete game of the season, Gaviria allowed only three hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He threw only 65 pitches. 



Prairie View A&M is 29-24 on the season, and 18-9 in SWAC conference play. The Panthers finished the year with a 15-6 home record, 8-18 road record, and a 6-0 record at neutral sites. 

The Panthers did not fare well in non-conference play, taking double-digit losses to Texas State, Houston, New Mexico State, and Lamar. 

The Panthers enter play on a five-game winning streak, with the latter three coming against lowly Alcorn State by a combined score of 41-19. The Panthers won only two series against SWAC playoff teams, taking two of three from Southern at home and Grambling State on the road. 

Prairie View ranks fifth in the SWAC offensively, hitting .298 as a team with 33 homers, 93 doubles, and an average of nearly eight runs per game. Lone All-SWAC selection, outfielder Michael Burroughs, leads his team with a .367 average, including 53 RBI, five homers, and 16 doubles. 

The Panthers rank in the bottom half of the league on the mound with a team ERA of 7.88. They struck out 260 batters to 282 walks on the year. Panther arms allowed the second-most hits in the league at 579. 

• The Wildcats clinched an overall .500 or better record in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016-2017.
•  B-CU finished the regular season sixth in the country at 2.63 steals per game.
• The Wildcats finished 41st in the country in team staff ERA
• Daniel Gaviria was one of only 11 players in the nation with multiple complete games on the year. 
• Daniel Figueroa is 14th in the country in hit-by-pitches with a team-high 20
• B-CU arms walk the fewest batters per nine innings in the SWAC (4.13).

Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between B-CU and PVAMU on the baseball diamond. 


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