4DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Leading 8-0 after two innings, the Wildcats watched their first win of the season slip away as Stony Brook came back for an 11-8 win in a seven-inning, rain-shortened contest, Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Making his first start for the Wildcats (0-3), lefty starter
Edwin Sanchez worked around two first-inning baserunners in a scoreless first.
B-CU bats wasted no time getting to work in the first, as
Jesus Vanegas smacked his first homer as a Wildcat over the right field wall to quickly put the Cats up 1-0.
Just three pitches later,
Armani Newton followed suit with his first homer as a Wildcat - an even deeper shot to right to double the lead at 2-0.
After a
Michael Rodriguez walk and two straight singles from
Andrey Martinez and
Manny Souffrain,
Darryl Lee legged out a triple that cleared the bases and made it 5-0, B-CU.
After a Sanchez 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts, the Wildcats went right back to work at the plate as Newton launched his second homer of the game to a similar spot in right center to push the Wildcat lead to 6-0. A hit-by-pitch and Martinez ground-rule double put runners on second and third with two away in the inning before Souffrain made it eight unanswered runs for the Cats through two innings.
Stony Brook (3-0) began its comeback with a leadoff single and two-out double to get on the board at 8-1 before finally silencing the B-CU bats with a seven-pitch bottom of the third.
The Seawolves added three more in the fourth after loading the bases with no one out - cashing in for threre on a B-CU error that sent a ball soaring out into the visiting bullpen.
One batter later, a dropped third strike allowed another run to cross the plate from third following the throw over to first.
After a quiet fifth, the Stony Brook bats continued to pressure the B-CU defense, creeping to within one run at 8-7 off the B-CU bullpen. They did so all with two outs, with three-straight two-out singles adding two runs in the frame.
As the B-CU offense continued to stall, Stony Brook burst in front for the first time in the game in the top of the seventh with back-to-back walks, an RBI single, and a bases-clearing homer that made it 11-8.
The Wildcats were again shut down 1-2-3 in the seventh. The two teams attempted to continue the contest into the eighth, but inclement weather halted the game for an 11-8 final.
In his first start with B-CU,
Edwin Sanchez finished the game with five runs allowed - only two earned - on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in five innings.
The B-CU bullpen combined for six runs allowed - all earned, on six hits with two walks and only one strikeout.
Jeffrey Gonzalez was saddled with his first loss of the season.
- B-CU was held hitless after the fourth inning.
- Armani Newson finished the game 2-3 with two homers, two RBI, and a walk.
- Michael Rodrigues finished 2-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
- Andrey Martinez also enjoyed a multi-hit game.
- B-CU walked four times to ten strikeouts in the game.
- Each of the last three-homer game for B-CU came in Atlanta at the 2024 SWAC Tournament - they did it twice in the last postseason - in a 16-1 win over Prairie View and a 16-0 win over Texas Southern. The last three-homer game at home for B-CU came on Feb. 25, 2023 against Purdue Fort Wayne. Manny Souffrain was responsible for two of three of those homers.
The Wildcats will look for win number one on the year on Wednesday, Feb. 19 as they host FIU at The Jack. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Admission is free. Fans can watch live at YouTube.com/CateyeNetwork
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--#HailWildcats--
