DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman returns to action after a busy weekend to take on the South Florida Bulls Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.



Tuesday, February 24
Opponent: South Florida
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Jackie Robinson Ballpark
Watch: Youtube.com/Cateyenetwork
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Yale broke open a 2-2 game with three runs in the seventh and added three more in the ninth to secure the win. Bethune-Cookman was limited to six hits and committed four errors in the contest.

The Bulldogs struck first in the fourth, taking advantage of a Bethune-Cookman miscue to plate an unearned run. The Wildcats answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jeter Polledo doubled to left to score Darryl Lee, and Jose Fernandez followed with a sacrifice fly to give B-CU a 2-1 edge.

Yale evened the score in the fifth on a sacrifice bunt and took control in the seventh. An error allowed the go-ahead run to score before Chace Chaplin delivered a two-run single to left-center, pushing the Bulldogs' lead to 5-2.

The Bulldogs added three more in the ninth, capitalizing on another Wildcat error and a pair of RBI singles to stretch the margin to six.

Bethune-Cookman threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Darryl Lee led off the inning with a solo home run to right field, his first of the season, to cut the deficit to 8-3. The Wildcats put two more runners on base, but Yale reliever Tate Evans recorded the final out to end the rally.

On the mound, Andris Barroso (0-2) took the loss in relief. Yale reliever Ben Winslow (1-1) earned the victory after tossing 3.2 innings and striking out four.

USF is off to an excellent 7-1 start this season, including series victories over Illinois, North Dakota State, and Georgia Southern. The Bulls lone loss came against the Fighting Illini 4-2 in extra innings. Recently, they defeated Georgia Southern 29-4 in seven innings before winning on a walk-off hit in the series finale.

The Bulls have been led on offense by Ryan Pruitt. The senior outfielder is the team-leader in RBI with 11, with seven of those coming in the blowout win over the Eagles. He has four extra base hits on the season, including two doubles, a triple, and a home run.

As a team, USF is batting .318 and walked 44 times compared to 38 strikeouts.

The pitching staff for the Bulls has also been solid. They have collectively tallied a 4.31 ERA while allowing a .212 batting average to opposing hitters. They have collected 84 strikeouts to just 30 walks.

Defensively, USF has just four errors thus far, while having allowed just four unearned runs.
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• Darryl Lee continues to lead B-CU in batting average at .360.
• Four Wildcat starters are batting over .300 so far this year (Lee, Maikol Lucena, Andrey Martinez, and Jose Fernandez).
• Jeter Polledo is the team's leader in RBI (9).
• Bethune-Cookman starters have combined to allow a 2.40 ERA in 35.2 innings of work.

USF holds a significant edge in the all-time series 45-15. The Wildcats' victory over USF last season ended a 10-game losing streak against the Bulls.


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