March 7, 2007

Box Score

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University took both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday from the newest member of the MEAC in Winston-Salem State University by scores of 10-2 and 6-1 at Sunnyland Park in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Both contests on the day were non-conference affairs, but were simply a prequel to great conference rivalries set for the future (2008).

B-CU (7-13) took the first game of the day behind the pitching of junior Jessica Hurtado (Tucson, Ariz.) as she struck out a season-high seven batters. Hurtado spread out two runs (both earned) on four Lady Rams hits in six innings of work in the circle.

Offensively, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning when shortstop Holly Bussey singled to left field in order to score Shaterra Davis and Breanna Shaw on the play. Both runners reached safely on hits to start off the inning. Brandi Holley then added to the scoring for the `Cats when she poked a double down the left field line to plate Bussey for the 3-0 advantage.

Christina Trimble would later score courtesy a wild pitch from WSSU's (3-14) Amber Shore. Shore collected two critical wild pitches in the game. With B-CU leading 4-0 after the first inning away, they would later score two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and finally sixth frame for the 8-run rule game ending in the bottom-half of the sixth frame.

Breanna Shaw was one of several Wildcats with the big stick in the first game as she went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored. Left fielder Christina Trimble was equally impressive, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and scoring twice as well. Brandi Holley simply added to the equation with a 3-for-4 outing which included three RBI.

For the Lady Rams of WSSU, Amber Shore was the spark offensively as well as in the pitcher's circle with a solo homerun for one of the two (2) WSSU runs in the contest.

Hurtado picked up the win to move her record out to 4-6 on the year, while Shore dropped her record to 3-7 on the campaign for the Lady Rams.

In the nightcap affair of the day, it would be Hurtado going the distance on the day pitching wise while freshman Lanaya Jenkins was given the day off to prepare for the tough weekend ahead in DeLand, Fla.

B-CU would have a tougher game this time around, however, as WSSU hurler Ashley Boswell was tough to solve early-on ... but the `Cats would find a way to rough her up in the circle later on in the contest.

B-CU opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Jenkins got herself into scoring position on a defensive error by the Lady Rams infield, then moving her to second base. She would later score on one of six (6) wild pitches thrown on the day by the hard-throwing Boswell.

WSSU tied the game up in the third inning when Boswell singled and later scored on an RBI single to left field by left fielder Devyn Gillette. That tied the game up at 1-1.

B-CU went on top for good in the fifth inning when the `Cats finally solved Boswell's hard-throwing stature with a series of errors by the WSSU defense.

Breanna Shaw reached safely with a dropped fly ball by the outfield, and Holly Bussey advanced into scoring position on a Boswell wild pitch ... also allowing Shaw to score from third base. Bussey later scored on yet another wild pitch.

B-CU led 3-1 after five innings of play.

The `Cats plated three runs in the sixth frame for the final of 6-1. The scoring in the sixth inning included the hot-hitting of Shaw with her fifth double of the year, as well as Ariel Robinson collecting her third two-bagger of the early season.

Jessica Hurtado upped her record to a respectable 5-6 for the year with the win as starting pitcher, but WSSU's Boswell failed to collect her first Division I win as she dropped to 0-7 on the year. Hurtado stretched out just three hits while striking out three Lady Rams at the plate.

No Wildcat player collected a multi-hit contest in the nightcap while Boswell proved to be a bright future prospect for the young Lady Rams. She spread out four hits and allowed six runs--though only three were earned in the contest.

But once again it was Breanna Shaw with the big bat as she went 1-for-4 with two big runs scored and one amazing RBI. The only other RBI came from Colorado's own Ariel Robinson.

The Wildcats will get back to action this weekend when they travel to the western portion of Volusia County to partake in the Stetson Tournament in DeLand, Fla. Once there, they will do battle with teams such as Mount St. Mary's, Temple and Stetson. The action takes place on Mar. 9-11 on the campus of Stetson University.