ATLANTA – Jose Gonzalez and Ramses Cordova each tallied home runs Thursday afternoon with Bethune-Cookman stumbling to Jackson State, 11-6 in a quarterfinal matchup in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Tournament at Russ Chandler Stadium. With the loss, BCU falls to the elimination bracket.
 
Bethune-Cookman (30-26) fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second, only to rebound for a pair of runs in the home-half of the inning.
 
After Jorge Gonzalez Febo was hit by a pitch from JSU starter Stevins Spurgeon Jr., shortstop Ramses Cordova launched his third home run in two games with a shot clear the wall in left field to put BCU up, 2-1.
 
Jackson State (35-18) answered quickly with four runs in the top of the third.
 
Designated hitter Joseph Eichelberger scored two with a two-out single that scored both Myles White and Jordan McCladdie, as JSU reclaimed the lead at 3-2. Shortstop Robert Tate Jr. worked a double steal with Eichelberger, allowing the JSU runner to come in from third, followed by an Arjun Huerta RBI single to center, putting the Tigers up 5-2.
 
The Wildcats clawed back with two runs in the bottom of the third as Jose Gonzalez registered his fifth home run of the year on a two-run shot to left that also plated Sergio Rivera to bring the Maroon and Gold to within 5-4.
 
The all-important inning occurred in the sixth when Jackson State scored five runs to widen its lead, 10-4.
 
The Tigers had the bases loaded when Eichelberger recorded an infield single to drive across Rodney Hibler Jr. from the top of the order. Huerta followed with a bunt single to cross White. And it was catcher Sebastian Cabeza making it three consecutive infield singles when he lined a single directly at BCU third baseman Febo to score Tate on the play.
 
The Tigers added an insurance run in the seventh with first baseman Lenny Montesano's sacrifice fly to center field, pushing the lead to 11-4.
 
Bethune-Cookman would chip into the lead with two runs in the home-half of the frame.
 
Rivera's single through the left side drove in second baseman Colton Olasin, followed by Jose Gonzalez being hit by a pitch to load the bases. Two batters later, Jorge Rodriguez worked a bases-loaded walk to push across Garrett Chun and make it 11-6.
 
The win went to reliever Isaiah Williams (6-3) as he worked 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. The loss was taken by BCU starter Marcos Gamboa (3-6) in giving up four runs on five hits, three walks and one punchout.
 
Relievers Dylan Vega, Sebastian Garrido and Jeffrey Gonzalez combined to work the final four innings for the Cats.
 
The JSU offense was led by Eichelberger's 4-for-5 afternoon, adding three RBIs and two runs scored. Huerta finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs of his own.
 
The BCU offense was paced by Cordova and Jose Gonzalez each accounting for two hits apiece and a home run each, respectively.
 
Bethune-Cookman will face Texas Southern, the No. 1 seed from the Western Division, in an elimination game Friday at 9 a.m.
 
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