March 2, 2007

Final Stats

Boca Raton, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University was unable to break into the winning column on the first day of the annual FAU Worth Invitational on Friday as they fell to Columbia, 2-0 and Florida Atlantic, 8-3. Games took place at the FAU Softball Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla.

B-CU (5-11) collected just three hits in the first contest as Columbia starting pitcher Amanda Snyder went the distance and had the `Cats off-balance the entire contest.

Columbia (1-1) scored the only runs of the game in the second inning when first baseman Danielle Pineda plated Valerie Smith and Lacie Nelson for the 2-0 advantage. B-CU pitcher Lanaya Jenkins calmed down and got her way out of trouble, but the Wildcats bats were just not hot in the opening contest.

The B-CU defense stood tall the rest of the way as they limited the Lions to just five hits throughout the third through sixth innings after giving up four in the opening two frames.

The Wildcats were not without their chances to score as they looked hard at the scoreboard in the fourth inning after Shaterra Davis walked and then advanced to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt applied by junior shortstop Holly Bussey. A costly play moments later cost a possible run when Davis was thrown out before reaching third base on a frozen rope thrown from left field to third base that caught Davis at third.

B-CU also applied pressure in the seventh inning after Trimble singled and junior first baseman Brandi Holley (Florahome, Fla.) walked to start off the inning. But Columbia's Snyder settled down in the pitcher's circle to help the Lions escape with three straight outs and earn the 2-0 victory over a stubborn B-CU squad.

With the loss, Jenkins dropped her record down to 2-7. Meanwhile, the Lions' Snyder moved to 1-0 in her game of the year.

In the nightcap for the Wildcats, they faced off against homestanding and tournament host Florida Atlantic. The Owls (10-6) wasted little time jumping on the board as they scored a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

With the Wildcats playing as the designated home team in the contest, they answered right back with a 2-run first inning to grab the lead. After Shaterra Davis was hit by a pitch, Christina Trimble collected her first homerun of the year with a two-run blast over the left field wall to give her team the 2-1 lead after an inning in the books.

The FAU owls bounced back in the second and third innings as a costly turn of events in the third frame led to scores by the Owls. B-CU starting pitcher Jessica Hurtado walked catcher Charlotte Baird for the easy RBI, and a sacrifice fly from Ambar Jones advanced Vanessa Suarez across the plate for the 4-2 advantage in favor of FAU.

The Owls would strike for four more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, as they jumped on Hurtado for 12 hits in the ballgame. The Owls limited the `Cats to just four hits on the day as the duo of Tara Grady and Megan Doonan combined for the victory. The starting pitcher was Grady, but she was pulled at the end of three as she struggled a bit finding the glove of Baird.

The Wildcats' Trimble would single and later score on a wild pitch for the 8-3 final.

The win went to Grady who collected her first decision of the season at 1-0, while B-CU's Jessica Hurtado dropped her record to 3-4 on the campaign. Christina Trimble led the `Cats at the plate in the second contest with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate, as well as two runs scored. Freshmen Trashonda Coven and Tameika Jonas also collected hits for the `Cats.

B-CU will now get back to action tomorrow for the second day of the FAU Worth Invitational as they take on Penn State at 11 a.m. back at FAU Softball Stadium. Live stats will be provided through Game Tracker through www.BCCathletics.com--the new official home for Bethune-Cookman athletics.