TAMPA – Darryl Lee and Andrey Martinez each mashed out home runs on Tuesday evening despite Bethune-Cookman falling just short away to South Florida by a score of 9-7 in a nonconference midweek baseball matchup at USF Baseball Stadium.
 
South Florida (17-9) withstood a four-run second inning by Bethune-Cookman and used a three-run sixth inning to secure the come-from-behind victory. For the Wildcats, the loss was their second consecutive after a weekend series victory over Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Southern University.
 
USF jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the first inning when Trippel connected for an inside-the-park home run that cleared the bases after Stewart Puckett singled and Greico reached on a base hit.
 
Bethune-Cookman (14-15) immediately responded with a four-run outburst in the top of the second inning, capitalizing on a USF error in the frame.
 
Designated hitter Armani Newton led off with a triple – his second of the season, and later scored on Jose Fernandez's RBI single. Left fielder Michael Rodriguez singled and eventually scored on a passed ball, while Darryl Lee scored on Jorge Gonzalez Febo's RBI single after reaching base via walk.
 
Greico, the Bulls first baseman, answered for the hosts in the bottom half of the frame, blasting a two-run homer to right field that brought home Puckett, who had walked with two outs.
 
The two teams stood tied at 5-5 after two innings complete.
 
After adding a run in the third inning on Carlos Jacome's sacrifice fly that scored Bradke Lohry and pushed the Bulls head 6-5, USF tacked on three runs in the home-half of the sixth.
 
Greico and Jackson Mayo started the rally with consecutive hits, and Marcus Brodil delivered a clutch two-run single through the left side. Anthony Quigley followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the USF lead to 9-5.
 
Bethune-Cookman mounted a rally in the eighth when Lee belted a two-run homer to right field – tying him with four other Wildcats each with five (5) home runs a piece on the year, cutting the deficit to 9-7. However, Yorek shut the door in the ninth, striking out two Wildcats to preserve the victory.
 
Corban Little (1-0) earned his first win of the season with three scoreless innings of relief, while Landen Yorek pitched a perfect ninth inning to record his fourth save. Logan Wirt (0-2) took the loss for Bethune-Cookman, allowing one run in three innings of work out of the bullpen. Aaron Schaefer and Yoansell Diaz closed the game in relief efforts with zero (0) runs allowed and just one hit surrendered over the final 2.2 innings, respectfully.
 
The Bulls' offense was powered by 13 hits with six players recording multi-hit performances. Greico led the way with his four hits, while Brodil added two hits and two RBIs. Trippel reached base four times, including his homer and three walks, driving in three runs.
 
For B-CU, Andrey Martinez led the way with a 3-for-5 performance at the dish with a home run (also his fifth of the season) and an RBI, while Newton, Fernandez, and Lee each collected two hits, respectively. As a team, the Wildcats pounded out 11 hits in facing five pitchers on the night.
 
The Cats return to the diamond Friday, April 4 at 4 p.m., when playing host to SWAC opponent Mississippi Valley State at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, Florida.
 
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