ATLANTA – Ramses Cordova hit two home runs Wednesday morning, while Tanner Boccabello worked a solid game on the mound in helping Bethune-Cookman open the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Tournament with a 16-1 win over Prairie View A&M at Russ Chandler Stadium on the campus of Georgia Tech.
 
The No. 2 seed out of the SWAC Eastern Division, Bethune-Cookman (30-25) wasted little time getting to the No. 3 seed (Western Division) Panthers, as the Wildcats plated seven runs in the home-half of the first inning.
 
Prairie View A&M (29-25) starting pitcher Michael Dews was chased after just one-third of an inning.
 
BCU first baseman Manny Souffrain drew a bases loaded walk to score Garrett Chun for the game's opening run. Irvin Escobar followed with an RBI single to score Sergia Rivera. The ensuing play saw Jorge Gonzalez Febo drive in two with his single shot back up the middle, allowing Souffrain and Escobar to make it 4-0 in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
 
The lead became 7-0 for the Wildcats when shortstop Ramses Cordova knocked his first home run of the day out clear the wall in left, pushing in Escobar and Febo as well.
 
Prairie View A&M scored its lobe run of the afternoon in the top of the third as Michaael Smith doubled to score Isaac Davila and cut the Wildcats lead at 7-1.
 
The Cats answered in the bottom of the frame with another three runs.
 
Cordova laced his second home run of the year to plate two and make it 9-1 with a towering shot to straightaway center field. Daniel Figueroa would score to make it 10-1 on a Chun single through the right side, as the BCU centerfielder never stopped running in rounding third to get in just ahead of the throw from right field.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, BCU made it 13-1 with another trio of runs.
 
Febo delivered the third homer of the morning for the Wildcats with a shot to right center – accounting for his third home run of the season.
 
The Cats would register the run-rule with another three runs in the bottom of the fifth, making it 16-1.
 
Rivera knocked in two with a double to the wall in center, crossing Olasin and Figueroa. Jose Gonzalez brought in the final run of the game with his sacrifice fly to left, as Chun scampered in from third.
 
The win went to Tanner Boccabello on the mound as the SWAC Newcomer of the Year went five innings on the bump, upping his record to 8-2 for the season. He allowed just one run on three hits while striking out three. Yoansell Diaz cleaned up the final two innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three of his own.
 
The loss went to the Panthers Dews, evening his record at 4-4 on the season, giving up seven runs on five hits, a walk and one strikeout.
 
The BCU offense was paced by four players with two hits each, including Cordova's two-home run contest and five RBIs. Chun finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. And Febo was 2-for-2 with five RBIs and three runs scored.
 
Bethune-Cookman will now face the winner of No. 4 Jackson State (East) and No.1 seed Texas Southern (West) on Thursday, May 23, at 3 p.m.
 
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