Wildcats Complete Series Sweep of Florida A&M with 8-7 Victory on Sunday
Brian Harvey

(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mar. 25, 2007)  Bethune-Cookman University completed the series sweep of rival Florida A&M University in baseball on Sunday, but it wasn’t easy.  The Wildcats came from behind for the 8-7 win in a big Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The Wildcats had to do just what they had to do last year in Game #3 against the Rattlers again today—if that makes any sense.  To put it plainly, the Wildcats needed a come-from-behind win last year in Tallahassee to complete the sweep … and they needed it again today.

It appeared to be smooth sailing early-on as B-CU (12-17, 3-0 MEAC) when, after reaching base safely to start the game on an infield error, the Wildcats’ José Ortiz-Rivera (Juncos, P.R.) came in to score after right fielder Angel Mercado (Barranquitas, P.R.) blasted his fourth homerun of the year (second of the series) off FAMU starter Chad Smith.

That homerun shot put B-CU ahead 2-0 after the first inning of play.

After plating one run in the second and fourth innings, respectively to tie the game at 2-2, FAMU (1-25, 0-3 MEAC) put together a two-run inning to go on top in the fifth frame.

Rattlers’ right fielder Jared Grace started things off with a double down the left field line, as teammate Corey McFadden collected a triple to centerfield just past the diving glove of Ortiz-Rivera for the score.  McFadden came in to score on a squeeze bunt from Adam Gordon on the sacrifice.

FAMU led 4-2 going into the bottom-half of the fifth inning, but the Wildcats soon had an answer.

A two-out rally was started by a solo homerun from Angel Negron (Maunabo, P.R.) to right field cut into the lead, and designated hitter Chris Brown (Daytona Beach, Fla.) plated an RBI single that scored Chris Henault (New Ipswich, N.H.) three batters later.

The score stood tied at 4-4 going into the sixth inning.

In the sixth, FAMU jumped back on top when David James singled and stole second base to get into scoring position.  Anthony Mazzeo became big for the Rattlers when he hit an RBI single to centerfield that scored James for the go-ahead score, 5-4.

Once again, the Wildcats had an answer in the bottom of the inning.

A single from Ortiz-Rivera set up Luis Gonzalez (Cayey, P.R.) to reach on an error.  A wild pitch from FAMU’s Smith allowed the base runners to move up 90 feet before Angel Mercado collected a sacrifice fly that scored Ortiz-Rivera to tie the game at 5-5.

The bases became loaded for the third time on the day for the Wildcats with back-to-back walks from Smith—one being an intentional walk issued to Angel Negron.  That’s when catcher Alejandro Jimenez (San Juan, P.R.) became big for the Wildcats after being hit by a pitch to bring in an easy RBI to plate Negron.

The ‘Cats would lead 8-7 when runners stood in scoring position for the Rattlers in the eighth inning as Jared Grace toed the plate.  B-CU relief pitcher Francisco Gomez (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) ultimately earned his third save of the year … and his first in over a month, as he struck out the batter to end the threat.

Gomez sat down the Rattlers in order to end the game in the ninth.

The win went to B-CU’s Phil Enright (Deltona, Fla.) who upped his record to 1-2 out of the bullpen in relief of starter Dustin Blackwell (Acworth, Ga.).  Blackwell was relieved after allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits through five innings.  It just wasn’t his best stuff today, but Enright helped out the cause with the win.  The loss went to FAMU starter Chad Smith who remained winless on the season at 0-8.

The big hitters on the day for the ‘Cats were Mercado and Negron who each collected homeruns, but Jimenez was a solid 4-for-5 with one RBI out of his catcher position.  The sophomore really looked good today.

As for FAMU, they were led by Grace and Mazzeo with two hits each, while relief pitcher Antonio Birch looked good out of the pen.  Birch went two innings on the mound with just one walk and two strikeouts … and zero (0) hits allowed.

For the ‘Cats, they didn’t help things out if they had loss as they left an incredible 12 men on the bases, including bases loaded twice with just one run crossing the plate altogether.

The ‘Cats will step out of conference play on Tuesday when they make the two-hour trip over to Gainesville to do battle with the University of Florida Gators at 6 p.m.  The Wildcats fell to the Gators in Gainesville last year in a great mid-week contest.

--BCU--