DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bethune-Cookman set a new program record for regular season wins in a runaway 23-1 victory over Grambling on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The victory marked the Wildcats' 36th win of the season, surpassing the previous program record set by the 2002 team with two regular season games still remaining.
The Wildcats (36-17, 22-6) wasted no time getting on the board in the opening inning. After Michael Rodriguez reached on a single and Maikol Lucena doubled home two runs, Jeter Polledo added a two-RBI double to left center before Christopher Watson lifted a sacrifice fly to cap a five-run frame and give Bethune-Cookman a 5-0 lead.
Bethune-Cookman added three more runs in the second inning. Darryl Lee stole home after reaching on a single, while Lucena and Jose Fernandez each delivered RBI hits to extend the lead to 8-0.
The Wildcats broke the game wide open in the third with a 10-run inning. Michael Rodriguez started the rally with a two-RBI triple before Jose Fernandez followed with a two-run double. Later in the frame, Sergio Rivera was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run before Darryl Lee ripped a three-RBI triple to right field. Andrey Martinez capped the inning with a two-run home run to push the advantage to 17-0.
Grambling (20-29, 17-11) got on the board in the fifth inning when Martavius Thomas scored on a wild pitch to make it 18-1.
Bethune-Cookman answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Ruben Zuany launched a two-run home run to left center field to extend the lead to 20-1.
The Wildcats added two more runs in the sixth inning behind an RBI single from Lee and a sacrifice fly from Zuany to make it 22-1.
Bethune-Cookman finished with 16 hits and drew 10 walks in the victory. Darryl Lee led the offense with four hits and four RBI, while Lucena, Fernandez, Rodriguez, and Watson each collected multi-hit games.
Edwin Sanchez earned the win to improve to 11-1 on the season after tossing four scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
- The Wildcats' 10-run third inning was their highest scoring output in any frame this season.
- B-CU recorded season-highs in runs (23), hits (16), doubles (5), triples (2), and hit by pitches (6).
- Darry Lee went 4-for-6 with a single, a double, a triple, and a season-high four driven in. His four hits were also a season-high.
- Maikol Lucena, Jose Fernandez, and Ruben Zuany each had three-RBI games. Zuany hit a pinch-hit two run homer in the fifth.
- Eight Wildcat hitters finished with mult-RBI games.
- Edwin Sanchez now owns the program record with 11 wins on the season. He finishes the season undefeated in conference play.
Bethune-Cookman will look to take the series against Grambling tomorrow beginning at 6 p.m. EST.
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--#HailWildcats--
