DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bethune-Cookman scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, capped by a walk-off two-run home run from Andrey Martinez, to defeat Yale 7-5 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
With the Wildcats (3-2) trailing 5-4 entering their final at-bat, Maikol Lucena opened the ninth with a single to left before Christopher Watson entered as a pinch runner. After a strikeout, Erick Almonte delivered a game-tying RBI double to right, scoring Watson from first. Two batters later, Martinez blasted a 2-0 pitch over the left-field wall to seal the comeback victory.
Yale (0-1) struck first in the fourth inning. Garrett Larsen doubled to left before Jack Dauer followed with an RBI double to put the Bulldogs ahead 1-0. A fielding error later in the frame allowed a second run to score, giving Yale a 2-0 advantage.
The Wildcats responded in the fifth. After a pair of walks, Martinez hit an RBI single, which scored a second runner after a Yale error. Bethune-Cookman took its first lead in the sixth when Armani Newton doubled to right and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jeter Polledo to make it 3-2.
Yale answered with a three-run seventh against reliever Bryon Rincones. An RBI single from Jackson Hays tied the game before Kaiden Dossa lined a two-run single up the middle to put the Bulldogs back in front, 5-3.
The Wildcats chipped away in the bottom of the seventh. Sergio Rivera reached after being hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on an RBI single from Erick Almonte to trim the deficit to 5-4 and set the stage for the ninth-inning heroics.
Harbersting Abreu started on the mound for Bethune-Cookman, striking out 10 over six innings while allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits. Rincones (1-0) earned the win in relief despite allowing three runs over the final three innings. Ben Winslow (0-1) took the loss for Yale.
- Erick Almonte finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two stolen bases.
- Andrey Martinez had four hits, including a double a home run, and three RBI.
- The Wildcats won despite being out-hit 11-9.
- The game featured four lead changes.
The Wildcats travel to Vero Beach to play Florida A&M in the Andre Dawson Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on MLB Network.
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