DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Wildcats will make their Sanford Memorial Stadium debut as they host the Delta Devils of Mississsippi Valley State for a three game series this weekend beginning Friday, April 4 at 4 p.m. 

Three of four remaining home series will be played at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium due to scheduling conflicts with the Daytona Tortugas as Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Fans can view the full schedule and the location of the remaining home days HERE.

Admission is free. Fans can watch the action live free at Youtube.com/CatEyeNetwork



Friday-Saturday, April 4-5
Opponent: Misssissippi Valley State (9-10, 4-5 SWAC)
Time: 4:00 | 3:00 (DH)
Location: Sanford, Fla. | Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium 
Watch/Listen: https://www.youtube.com/cateyenetwork
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary



 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 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 mmediately 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.



Mississippi Valley State is 9-10 on the year and 4-5 in conference play, currently sitting in the seventh spot in the SWAC standings. The Delta Devils are winners of four straight after a three-game sweep fo Alcorn State at home last weekend and a 15-9 midweek win over the NAIA's Rust College. The Delta Devils scored 44 runs over three games on the weekend, though they allowed 36.

MVSU has been the third-best offensive team in the conference on the year, hitting .305 as a team with 27 homers and 148 strikeouts to 100 walks. They have stolen 53 bases as a team on 60 attempts. 

Freshman infielder Eric Williams has been a top hitter in the league this year, hitting .426 with a 1.170 OPS, including two homers, 13 RBI, and six doubles. Two Delta Devils have five homers on the year - Gunner Lakins and Jace Jones. 

On the mound, MVSU ranks near the bottom of the conference with a team ERA of 9.83. Their pitching staff has 108 walks to 129 strikeouts. Weeekend starters Logan Darnell, James Snips, and Brayden Eftink each have an ERA over six. Darnell has the best K/BB ratio of the bunch at 29 strikeouts to eight walks. 

• B-CU lead the SWAC in doubles with 62 - the 40th most by a team in the country. They are fourth in the nation in triples with 14, only four behind DI-leading Arizona.
• The Wildcats lead the SWAC in homers with 30, with five players each with five. Since joining the SWAC, the most single-season homers by a Wildcat is nine. 
• Darryl Lee ranks 24th in the country in OBP at .537.
• Irvin Escobar ranks 16th in the nation as "toughest to strike out." 

Friday will mark just the 19th meeting between MVSU and Bethune-Cookman on the diamond. The Wildcats have lost only two games in the all-time series. B-CU has won 14 straight dating back to 2022. 


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