DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bethune-Cookman baseball clinched its second consecutive SWAC Regular Season Championship and secured the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a dominant 12-1 victory over Grambling on Saturday evening at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The Wildcats close out the season undefeated in SWAC series (10-0) while establishing a new program-high with 37 victories overall.
The Wildcats (37-18, 23-7) wasted no time taking control, erupting for nine runs in the opening inning. Darryl Lee started the rally with a leadoff double before Andrey Martinez and Michael Rodriguez reached base to load the bases. Maikol Lucena was then hit by a pitch to force in the first run of the game.
Jose Fernandez followed with an RBI fielder's choice before Erick Almonte lined a two-run single to right field to extend the lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, Sergio Rivera reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error allowed another run to score. Lee then delivered the biggest hit of the frame with a two-run triple to right field, and Martinez later scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-0. Fernandez capped the inning with an RBI single as Bethune-Cookman carried a 9-0 lead into the second.
Bethune-Cookman added another run in the second inning when Rivera singled and later scored on an RBI base hit from Lee to push the advantage to 10-0.
Grambling (21-30, 18-12) got on the board in the fourth inning. Cameron Hill singled to open the frame before Shannon Martin drove in a run with a single up the middle to trim the deficit to 10-1.
B-CU answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Christopher Watson walked and later scored on a groundout by Martinez to extend the lead to 11-1.
The Wildcats added one final run in the fifth inning. Lucena worked a leadoff walk before Rivera drew a bases-loaded walk later in the frame to make it 12-1.
Tanner Boccabello earned the win after allowing one run over four innings with two strikeouts. Anthony Anselmo, Bryon Rincones, Justin Morales, and Pablo Torres combined to throw three scoreless innings in relief.
- In his final home game, Darryl Lee finished a home run shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk, and three RBI.
- Michael Rodriguez recorded a base hit and two walks, ending the season on a 33-game on-base streak.
- Jose Fernandez, Erick Almonte, and Sergio Perez each had two RBI.
- Tanner Boccabello earned the win, finishing 6-0 on the season.
- The Wildcats walked nine times and struck out just once.
The top-seeded Wildcats will head to Birmingham for the SWAC Tournament. The team's first game is Wednesday evening against Arkansas - Pine Bluff.
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--#HailWildcats--
