GULFPORT, Miss. – Florida A&M scored five runs in the fifth inning to erase a 5-1 deficit in order to defeat Bethune-Cookman, 6-5 in an elimination game of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Softball Tournament on Thursday evening at Gulfport Sportsplex in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman, serving as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Division, were playing their third No. 1 seeded opponent of the tournament with FAMU tops in the Eastern Division, respectfully.
 
With the game tied at 1-1, Bethune-Cookman (23-31) broke the deadlock with four runs off Florida A&M starting pitcher Zoryana Hughes. After Thais Uyema walked and eventually scored on Kendall Macauley's bases-loaded walk, the floodgates opened for the Wildcats. Third baseman Aysiah Gonzalez drew another bases-loaded walk – this coming from Rattlers reliever Samantha Smith, to force in a run and make it 3-1 in favor of the Wildcats. B-CU second baseman Jessica Alaan followed with a two-run scoring double to right center, giving the Cats a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the frame.
 
The advantage was short-lived, however, as Florida A&M (26-19) immediately responded with five runs in the home-half.
 
After Brianna Duggins singled and Neriah Lee followed with another hit, Ciara Maple loaded the bases at the top of the order with a single up the middle. Relief pitcher Halyne Gonzalez entered the game for starter Alyssa Lopez – pitching her third game in the last three days and 17 innings overall, but struggled to find the strike zone early-on. The senior right-hander walked FAMU second baseman Kiauna Watson to force in the Rattlers' first run of the inning and cutting the Cats lead, 5-2.
 
Following a fly out, shortstop Amari Brown delivered a two-out triple to right center field that cleared the bases and tied the game at 5-5. Keeleigh Spooner, the Rattlers catcher, then put FAMU ahead for good with her only hit of the evening with an RBI single that scored Brown, and putting the Rattlers on top for good, 6-5.
 
B-CU threatened in the seventh, putting a pair of runners in scoring position with one out after Bradley-Tse singled and stole second, followed by senior first baseman Macauley drawing her second walk of the night. The Wildcats' Alana Cypress entered as a pinch runner, but Smith induced consecutive groundouts from the pitcher's circle to extinguish the rally and secure the victory for her side.
 
FAMU struck first in the opening inning when Maple walked and later scored on Jamison Townsend's infield single back to the pitcher's circle that was a slow dribbler allowing the speedster to reach first safely and put the Rattlers up, 1-0.
 
The Wildcats evened the score at 1-1 in the third inning when Uyema crossed safely on an Emma Bradley-Tse infield single past the glove of Brown at short. Both teams' pitchers held firm through the middle frames.
 
Smith earned the victory for the Rattlers, improving to 7-4 on the season after taking over for Hughes with two outs in the fifth inning. Smith pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just two hits while also surrendering three walks. Hughes lasted 4.2 innings, being tagged for five runs (four earned) on two hits with five walks and two strikeouts before being relieved during Bethune-Cookman's four-run fifth inning.
 
For the Wildcats, Lopez worked 4.1 innings in the start, allowing four runs (three earned) while scattering five hits. Halyne Gonzalez took the loss, falling to 10-19 for the season after surrendering the go-ahead runs in the fifth.
 
FAMU's offense was led by left fielder Neriah Lee, who finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate, and Brown, whose three-RBI triple proved decisive. Maple reached base twice and scored two runs from her leadoff position.
 
For B-CU, Bradley-Tse paced the bats, collecting three hits in four trips to the dish, while also stealing three bases to give her 33 on the campaign and finishing second on the Wildcats squad in that department. Alaan drove in two runs with her fifth inning double, while Uyema reached base twice via walks and scored twice, respectively.
 
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