East Panhandle News

Wildcats pound out 15 hits in win over Hatters

Hylan Hall tallied three hits while five other Wildcats had two hits apiece in leading Bethune-Cookman to a 13-5 win over Volusia County opponent Stetson on Tuesday evening at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
 
Hylan Hall registered an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to break open the scoring for Bethune-Cookman (11-10) in order to score leadoff hitter Luis Tuero. Moments later, BCU made it 2-0 when Robert Moya singled up the middle in order to score Garrett Chun.
 
Stetson (14-9) used a Daniel Labrador solo home run over the wall in left field to make it 2-1 in favor of the Wildcats in the top-half of the third inning.
 
The visiting Hatters took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the top of the fourth.
 
However, the Wildcats answered in kind with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.
 
Centerfielder Malik Stephens singled through the left side to plate Jeremy Garcia and Jorge Braceras for the first two runs of the BCU at-bat. That was followed shortly afterwards with a Tuero RBI single to left field, bringing in Brian Perez for the 5-4 Wildcats lead.
 
The Cats would enjoy their largest scoring inning of the night in the fifth, as the Maroon and Gold put five runs on the board in the frame.
 
Perez delivered a two-run single past the glove of Stetson second baseman Andrew Estrella, allowing Braceras and Moya to score and extend the Cats lead, 7-4. Stephens followed later in the inning with a two-run scoring single of his own with a hit to left center, which was good enough to score Perez and Garcia on the play.
 
The Cats lead would swell to 10-4 when Stephens scored from third on a wild pitch.
 
Labrador homered for the second time on the night – this one also to left field – in the top of the sixth to cut the Hatters deficit at 10-5.
 
BCU's Braceras would add to the Wildcats lead in the home-half of the sixth, scoring his third run of the night on yet another Stetson wild pitch.
 
BCU led 11-5 after six innings in the books.
 
A bases loaded walk issued to Garcia would allow him an RBI in the seventh as Jason Hodges scored.
 
Stephens would score the final run of the game and produce the 13-5 line when he came across on a Stetson error in the eighth.
 
The win went to BCU reliever Gabriel Perez, as he evened his record for the year at 1-1 in working one inning, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits and a strikeout. The save was collected by Derrius York in working the final 3.1 innings on the bump for the Maroon and Gold, not surrendering a single hit and collecting five strikeouts.
 
Santiago Gomez started for the Cats on the night, pitching three innings, allowing just one run run on three hits and tallying five strikeouts.
 
The loss went to Stetson's Cole Stallings, dropping his record for the season at 1-1. He went 1.1 innings in a relief effort, allowing three runs on three hits.
 
The Stetson offense was paced by Labrador's 2-for-5 night and his two home runs.
 
Meanwhile, for the Cats, Hall went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Tuero and Chun each had two hits and a run, added an RBI by Tuero. Braceras was 2-for-3 with three runs, while Stephens turned in a 2-for-4 night with four RBIs.
 
Bethune-Cookman returns to Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Friday, March 24, when the Cats welcome Mississippi Valley State to Daytona Beach for a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series beginning at 7 p.m. 

Original source can be found here.