DELAND, Fla. — Bethune-Cookman baseball will do battle with the Stetson Hatters for Volusia County supremacy Tuesday night at Melching Field. The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. EST.



Tuesday, May 5
Opponent: Stetson (18-29, 9-14)
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: DeLand, Fla. | Melching Field at Conrad Park
Watch: https://gohatters.com/watch/?Live=558&type=Live
Listen: https://bcuathletics.com/sports/2024/11/13/Cateye-Network-Radio.aspx
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=642444
Tickets: https://gohatters.com/tickets

The Wildcats (33-15, 19-5) dropped the final game of the series to Arkansas Pine-Bluff 10-6.

After a scoreless first fwe innings, Bethune-Cookma broke through in the third with a big offensive outburst. After loading the bases, Andrey Martinez lifted a sacrifice fly to open the scoring before Michael Rodriguez and Maikol Lucena followed with RBI singles. Jose Fernandez then delivered the biggest swing of the inning with a three-run home run to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (20-29, 13-11) began to chip away in the fourth inning. The Golden Lions strung together four hits, highlighted by RBI singles from Konner Giddley and Zyon Hamilton to cut the deficit to 6-2.

The Golden Lions continued to close the gap in the fifth, drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-3.

After being held in check for a pair of innings, Arkansas-Pine Bluff took control in the seventh. With runners in scoring position, Lazaro Alvarado delivered a two-RBI single to tie the game before additional RBI hits from Giddley and Hamilton gave UAPB a 7-6 lead.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff added insurance in the eighth inning with a pair of runs on RBI singles from Alvarado and Nick Hockemeyer to extend the lead to 9-6.

The Golden Lions tacked on another run in the ninth on a fielder's choice to push the advantage to 10-6.

Bethune-Cookman was unable to respond after its big third inning, as Arkansas-Pine Bluff's bullpen shut the door over the final frames. Brendan Hamlin earned the win in relief, while Bryon Rincones was charged with the loss.

The Hatters have largely struggled this season after getting off to an 0-5 start. They have collected marquee wins over Virginia, Arkansas, and UCF but have been unable to maintain consistency. They are in the midst of a four-game losing streak after being swept by Florida Gulf Coast.

Stetson ranks near the bottom of the Atlantic Sun in most offensive categories. They have accumulated a .255 team batting average and a scoring 5.2 runs per game. They do not hit for much power with just 26 home runs.

Graduate student Yohan Dessureault is the team's leader in homers (6), RBI (34), total bases (77),  and slugging percentage (.503). Landon Russell and Foster Apple are tied for the team lead with 11 doubles each.

The pitching staff has managed a 5.56 team ERA, good for third in the conference. They are also third in strikeouts and walks allowed. Thomas Achey will make his first start of the season against the Wildcats. He is 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings.

• David Morrisey will start for B-CU Tuesday. He has made 12 appearances this season, all out of the bullpen, and has accumulated a 6.32 ERA.
• Jose Fernandez continued his torrid stretch offensively over the weekend. He finished the series 4-for-11 with three home runs and eight driven in. He is currently on a 14-game hitting streak.
• Michael Rodriguez picked up five hits against UAPB to push his batting average to .398 on the year.
• Maikol Lucena is two hits away from 60 on the season.
• Bethune-Cookman ranks 32nd in the country with 99 doubles and has six players with 11 or more.

The Hatters have historically dominated the all-time series against Bethune-Cookman, 71-22. Recently though, the Wildcats have won four of the previous seven meetings.

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