It was a bitter-sweet afternoon on Sunday as B-CU (28-22, 16-1 MEAC) said "good-bye" to nine seniors playing in their last conference home game in the friendly confines of Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

The Hornets of DSU (21-22-2, 10-8 MEAC) jumped on top in the second inning as left fielder Jarrett Bibb’s single to left center plated catcher Alex Carter for the 1-0 advantage.

B-CU answered right back in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own to take the lead at 2-1.

B-CU sophomore catcher Drew Clark collected a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in senior shortstop Chris Henault for the tie, 1-1. Senior second baseman José Almonte immediately followed that up with an RBI single to center that crossed first baseman Alejandro Jimenez for the lead in favor of B-CU.

The Wildcats put two more runs on the board in the third when left fielder Neal Jones kicked off the inning with a single to left, followed by an RBI double to the same spot from senior third baseman Luis Gonzalez. That gave B-CU a 3-1 lead, and ultimately closed the books on DSU starting hurler Jamie Friel.

Friel finished 2.2 innings of the mound, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with one walk issued.

Gonzalez would later score in the same inning on an errant throw charged to the DSU infield.

In the fourth, B-CU would post their biggest scoring output of the day with six (6) runs crossing in the inning.

Neal Jones collected an RBI single to score José Ortiz-Rivera, while then later scoring on a wild pitch from Hornets reliever Tim Tevis.

With B-CU leading 6-0, designated hitter Angel Negron pounded out his eighth homerun of the year with a two-run shot to left field. Then, for the first time this season, B-CU registered back-to-back homeruns as Henault collected his 10th homer of the year to almost the exact same spot as Negron just one batter prior.

That run would relieve Tevis on the hill for Mike Ingram, and put the Wildcats out with a substantial lead at 9-1. Another run would score in the inning when Ortiz-Rivera collected his second hit of the day with a RBI laser to center to score Almonte for the 10-1 lead.

With rain pushing in from the Northwest heavily, B-CU head coach Mervyl Melendez and DSU head coach JP Blandin agreed to try and get as much of the game in as possible before the skies opened up.

But it would be the B-CU bats to open up the skies in the bottom of the fifth as the 10-run rule came into affect as Henault’s single through the left side brought around Gonzalez for the 12-2 final.

In the earlier stages of the inning, the Wildcats had all seniors, outside of the pitchers, take the field for the last time on defense in MEAC play at home.

The win went to B-CU’s Hiram Burgos who moved his record for the year to a winning mark at 6-5. He went all five innings on the mound for the ‘Cats, allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.

The loss was tagged to DSU’s Friel who dropped to the losing part of a record with 3-4.

DSU was led at the plate by Jarrett Bibb who finished 1-for-1 with both RBI for the Hornets. The pitcher, Friel, went 1-for-2 as a batter in the lineup.

Chris Henault led the ‘Cats with a 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs. Just behind him was Neal Jones who was a sizzling 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs. Ortiz-Rivera and Almonte also poured in multi-hit performances for the ‘Cats.

For the Wildcats, they will return to the diamond on Tuesday, May 8 with one last game at home in Jackie Robinson Ballpark against intrastate foe Florida Atlantic University at 6 p.m. The contest is a rescheduled game from last month when torrential rain showers hit the Daytona Beach area all day.

--BCU--