DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the first time since February 24th, the Wildcats will stay home for a midweek contest as they host the UCF Knights at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.



Tuesday, April 21
Opponent: UCF (21-15, 11-7)
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Jackie Robinson Ballpark
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/cateyenetwork
Listen: https://bcuathletics.com/sports/2024/11/13/Cateye-Network-Radio.aspx
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary



Bethune-Cookman (29-11, 15-3) got off to another fast start with three runs in the first inning. Michael Rodriguez picked up an RBi base hit and would later score on a sac fly by Jeter Polledo. The Wildcats brought another run across on a passed ball to make it 3-0.

Alabama A&M got a run back in the second, as Tervell Johnson collected an RBI hit to cut the deficit to one.

But as they have all series, the Wildcats continued to put runs on the board in the bottom of the inning. Jorge Rodriguez scored on an error to start, and Darryl Lee and Andrey Martinez produced sac flies to push the lead to 6-1.

In the fifth, B-CU manufactured a run steal of home by Jose Fernandez to make it 7-1.

The Bulldogs stormed back in the seventh inning. Isaac Castro socked an RBI double and AJ Anderson collected a sac fly to further trim the deficit to four.

B-CU would put up a huge inning in the seventh to go up ten and clinch the victory. The Wildcats took advantage of an AAMU error, scoring six unearned runs. Martinez drove in a run on a groundout and Fernandez, Jeter Polledo, and Maiikol Lucena recorded RBI hits.



Central Florida fell out of the top 25 this week after a tough stretch in which they lost six of seven. This includes a midweek home lost to the Jacksonville Dolphins and series losses to Kansas and Cincinnati. However, the Knights still have a strong record overall and are currently tied for the third best mark in the Big 12.

As a team, UCF is batting .276 and is averaging 6.9 runs per game. They have hit 30 home runs, 52 doubles, and are slugging .403. John Smith III leads the team with 31 RBI while Andrew Williamson tops the club in homers with 10.

On the pitching side, the staff has accumulated a 4.24 ERA and is allowing a .228 batting average. The Knights' strikeout-to-walk ratio is 2.2 and they are walking just under four batters a game. Roman Kimball will make his second start of the year for UCF Tuesday night. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 12.0 innings of work.

A strong fielding team, the Knights have managed a .976 fielding percentage with just 32 errors on the year.

• Harbersting Abreu will start for the Wildcats on the mound. He is 2-3 with a 4.01 ERA in 42.2 innings.
• Bethune-Cookman has won 12 of its last 14 games.
• The Wildcats have four hitters with a batting average currently over .300.
• Andrey Martinez is currently on a 12-game hit streak. He finished 6-for-12 with four RBI in the sweep over Alabama A&M.
• Michael Rodriguez also owns a 12-game hit streak. He went 5-for-10 with five RBI against the Bulldogs.
• B-CU has finished with zero errors in five of its last seven games.
• Pablo Torres has not allowed a run in 10 straight appearances.

UCF has historically dominated the all-time series against Bethune-Cookman. They are 71-14 against the Wildcats and have won the previous 10 meetings in a row.

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