FORT MYERS, Fla. - Florida Gulf Coast evened up the weekend series with a 16-6 win, Saturday afternoon in at Swanson Stadium.
FGCU (5-9) took an early lead at 4-0 with a pair of homers in the first. They added five more in the second, capitalizing on a Wildcat error with five hits to make it 9-0 in a hurry.
Bethune-Cookman (7-8) finally collected its first hit in the top of the third, with
Jeter Polledo advancing all the way to third on a fielder's choice, but the Wildcats were unable to score.
As the Wildcats finally forced a 1-2-3 inning in the third, B-CU crossed the plate in the fourth on a two-run homer for
Andrey Martinez - his second in as many days and third of the year, scoring
Jesus Vanegas to make it 9-2
The Eagles took those runs right back in the bottom half of the frame with back-to-back two-out RBI singles that pushed the lead back up to 11-2.
A fielder's choice in the top fo the fifth allowed
Sergio Rivera to score with help from an FGCU error to make it 11-3.
The Eagles took two more as the Wildcats turned to the bullpen in the fifth on a pair of RBI doubles that made it a 12-run lead at 15-3.
Four hits in the top of the sixth, including RBI's from
Sergio Rivera and
Darryl Lee, made it 15-6.
Florida Gulf Coast finished off the run-rule game with a two-out RBI triple in the seventh that ended things at 16-6.
Joel Core took his first loss of the season after four innings in which he allowed nine earned runs on eleven hits with five strikeouts. He did not walk a batter.
- Make it seven RBI and five hits over his last two games for Darryl Lee, who finished the day 2-4 with two RBI Saturday. It was his third game of the year with multiple RBI.
- Andrey Martinez finished 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBI with help from his second homer in as many games.
- Manny Souffrain and Sergio Rivera also enjoyed multi-hit games.
- Sergio Rivera has reached base in nine straight games.
- Jesus Vanegas and Manny Souffrain have reached base in eight straight games.
B-CU will look to take the weekend series with the rubber match on Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m.
Follow Bethune-Cookman Baseball on Twitter/X and Instagram (@BCUDiamondCats) and for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics) and www.bcuathletics.com.
--#HailWildcats--
