BATON ROUGE, La. — Bethune-Cookman baseball begins its Louisiana trip this weekend with a series against Southern at Lee-Hines Stadium. The three-game set's first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night.



Friday-Sunday, April 3-5
Opponent: Southern (10-17, 4-4)
Time: 7 p.m. | 4 p.m. | 2 p.m.
Location: Baton Rouge, La. | Lee-Hines Stadium

South Florida got on the board first in the opening frame. After a leadoff double by Ryan Pruitt, Matt Rose came through with an RBI single to give the Bulls the early 1-0 lead.

Bethune-Cookman (20-9, 8-1) was unable to generate much offense against USF starter Dominic Pontbriant, managing just one hit during the first four innings.

The Wildcats finally broke through with six runs on five hits during a wild fifth inning. Jeter Polledo led off the inning with a double to left center and was later driven home on an RBI fielder's choice by Jose Fernandez. And after a USF error allowed a runner to move over to third, Michael Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to give B-CU a 2-1 advantage. Christopher Watson continued the rally with an RBI single for the team's third run.

Erick Almonte appeared to drive in another run on a squeeze play, but he was called out on runner's interference, forcing the runner to head back to third base. However, the run would later score anyway on a wild pitch. Andrey Martinez then belted a two-RBI single to put the Wildcats ahead 6-1.

B-CU threatened in the sixth with runners on the corners but failed to score after the runner at third was picked off on a double-steal attempt.

The Bulls trimmed into the deficit in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of multiple defensive miscues by the Wildcats. Lance Trippel made B-CU pay with a two-RBI double to make it 6-3.

USF attempted to rally in the ninth inning. They led off with a triple before Jackson Geiger managed a pinch-hit RBI single. The Bulls were able to load the bases and score another run on a groundout. But Pablo Torres struck out Bradke Lohry to end the threat and finish off the win.

Anthony Anselmo put together an outstanding outing out of the bullpen to pick up the win. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

The Southern Jaguars are 10-17 overall and have achieved a 4-4 mark in SWAC play. They begin conference action with a series loss to Alabama State before bouncing back to take two of three from Prairie View A&M. Tuesday night, the Jaguars held an early 3-0 lead on LSU before eventually falling 16-6.

The Jags profiile as a middle-of-the-pack offense within the SWAC. They rank fifth in batting average and fourth in doubles but rank bottom five in home runs and runs batted in. However, Southern steals bases at the second-highest frequency behind only the Wildcats.

KJ White Jr. and Jaylon Lucky are key hitters in the Jaguars' lineup. White Jr. holds the team's best batting average among regular starters  (.376) and tops his squad in RBI (21). Lucky is hitting .326, leads the team in doubles with 11, and ranks second in RBI

The pitching staff is also average among SWAC teams. They rank sixth in ERA and fourth in total strikeouts. They also struggle to keep the ball in the ballpark, allowing more home runs than all but one team.

The Wildcats will likely face Bobby Spencer, Quincy Thornton, and Jeremiah Eneix. Each hold an ERA over 6.50. Spencer leads the staff with 44 strikeouts and is coming off a six inning start against Prairie View in which he allow just one run and recorded nine strikeouts.

Defensively, Southern sits number one in the league in fielding percentage with just 31 errors on the season.

• Anthony Anselmo pitched a season-high 6.1 innings to help lead the Wildcats to a season sweep of South Florida Tuesday night.
• B-CU starting pitchers have yet to take a loss in a SWAC start.
• Edwin Sanchez leads the SWAC in ERA, strikeouts, opponents' batting average, hits allowed, and wins.
• Maikol Lucena ranks tenth in the league in batting average and fourth in RBI.
• Darryl Lee tops the SWAC with 14 doubles.
• Jeter Polledo is third in the league in RBI, second in doubles, and first in triples.
• Harbersting Abreu sits second in the league in ERA and has not suffered a loss since March 6th.
• Pablo Torres has not allowed a run in eight consecutive outings.

This will be the Wildcats' first-ever series at Lee-Hines Stadium. B-CU is 7-2 all-time against Southern and won two of three last season in Daytona Beach.

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