CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Kendall Macauley registered her second home run as a Bethune-Cookman Wildcat on Thursday evening, as Bethune-Cookman finished up opening day action at the 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Complex in cathedral City, California. Bethune-Cookman fell to Nevada 10-2 in the Wildcats' opening game, before suffering a 3-1 defeat to UC Riverside in the nightcap.
 
NEVADA 10, B-CU 2
Bethune-Cookman used a Kendall Macauley home run to take an early lead lover Nevada Thursday afternoon, but the Wolfpack would storm back for a 10-2 win over the Wildcats in the opening game for both teams on Fenway Field of the Big League Dreams Complex at the 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.
 
Nevada (9-3) hammered 11 hits, including a pair of homers from designated player Haley Painter, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Aaliyah Jenkins delivered the game's biggest blow with a third-inning grand slam that saw the Wolfpack erase an early 1-0 deficit.
 
Kendall Macauley, a redshirt senior second baseman, put Bethune-Cookman (4-9) ahead 1-0 in the top of the second inning with a solo shot to left field. For the Fayetteville, North Carolina native, it was her second home run as a Wildcat.
 
Macauley would later score again in the fourth on an error, accounting for both Bethune-Cookman runs.
 
The Wildcats managed just three hits against Nevada's pitching duo of Tess Bumiller and Ainsley Berlingeri, respectfully. Designated player Maria Galvan also collected a hit in the game for the Maroon and Gold.
 
Bumiller (2-1) earned the win with three innings of one-run ball, while Berlingeri picked up her second save of the season, striking out four over the final three frames.
 
Nevada's offensive explosion began in the third when Alycia Coats drew a leadoff walk. Madison Clark drew a one-out walk and Bailie Clark reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Jenkins then delivered her towering grand slam to left-center field, giving Nevada a 4-1 advantage. Painter followed with a solo shot, pushing the lead to 5-1.
 
The Wolfpack added two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles each from Clark and Hannah Di Genova.
 
Haylee Engelbrecht homered in the fifth before Painter capped the scoring with her second homer of the day, a two-run blast in the sixth inning that invoked the run rule.
 
Bethune-Cookman starter Halyne Gonzalez (3-7) took the loss, surrendering seven runs over 3.1 innings of work. Alyssa Lopez, the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Pitcher of the Week, completed the final 2.1 innings in the circle for the Cats, surrendering three runs on five hits and a strikeout.
 
UC RIVERSIDE 3, B-CU 1
Six different Bethune-Cookman players recorded a hit Thursday evening as the Wildcats were tripped up by UC Riverside, 3-1 in the final game of the day for the Cats at Fenway Field inside Big League Dreams Complex as part of the 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.
 
UC Riverside (7-6) rode a two-RBI performance from second baseman Rebeca Cabezas and strong pitching from Reagan Everett to secure the win.
 
Bethune-Cookman (4-10) threatened throughout, stranding 10 runners, but could only push across a lone run against UC Riverside's pitching staff of Everett and Brooke Perez.
 
After a scoreless opening two frames, the Highlanders broke through in the third when Cabezas doubled to right-center and scored on Eta Lauti's double down the line in left.
 
UC Riverside extended its lead in the fourth inning.
 
Leilani Juan drew a walk and Mariana Palazuelos doubled, setting the stage for Cabezas to deliver a two-run single that made it 3-0.
 
B-CU responded in the fifth when Kendall Macauley singled and later worked her way to third following a walk issued to third baseman Aysiah Gonzalez – added a sacrifice bunt from shortstop Briana Velazquez. Macauley would score a play later off the end of a Molly Blackwood sacrifice fly to the outfield.
 
Everett (4-1) earned the victory in the circle for the Highlanders, allowing one run on five hits through four complete innings. Perez secured her first save of the campaign with three scoreless innings of relief, yielding just one hit in the process.
 
Wildcats sophomore Sofia Vallejos-Coleman (0-1) took the loss in the circle, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out three over five complete frames.
 
Despite collecting six hits and drawing four walks, the Wildcats struggled to deliver the timely hit, leaving 10 runners on base throughout the contest.
 
UC Riverside's Cabezas finished 2-for-3 at the dish with two RBIs, while designated player Mariana Palazuelos added two hits including a double. For Bethune-Cookman, five different players recorded hits, with centerfielder Joslynn Davis, left fielder Emma Bradley-Tse, Macauley, shortstop Velazquez, Maria Galvan and India Stokes each collecting one apiece, respectively.
 
Bethune-Cookman returns for day two action of the 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday morning as the Cats take on Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT).
 
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