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Erick Almonte hit a third-inning grand slam to right field to keep Bethune-Cookman’s season alive with a 7-6 victory over Grambling State on May 21.
The top-seeded Wildcats were on the ropes after No. 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff upset the SWAC regular-season champions 6-4 earlier Thursday morning, but Bethune-Cookman responded to advance in the SWAC tournament’s elimination bracket.
B-CU and Grambling were tied at 1 entering the bottom of the third inning. The Tigers had scored in the top of the first on a Charles Ashe III groundout, and the Wildcats’ Jose Fernandez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second.
Maikol Lucena singled to score Darryl Lee from third to earn Bethune-Cookman a 2-1 lead. After Fernandez singled to right-center field to load the bases with one out, Almonte stepped into the batter’s box.
He sent it over the right-field wall at Rickwood Field to extend the Wildcats’ lead to a commanding 6-1 advantage.
It looked like Bethune-Cookman was just going to coast to the finish line, as a one-run fifth inning for both teams was the only additional tally until the eighth inning. Wildcats starter Harbersting Abreu pitched seven innings and only allowed one earned run.
And when Abreu left the game, Grambling’s bats awoke.
After Julian Carrasquilla replaced Abreu on the mound, Dillon Braxton doubled, Trey Bridges singled and a wild pitch allowed Braxton to score and Bridges to advance to second.
Anthony Anselmo was next out of the B-CU bullpen. He walked Aidan Lopez and allowed an Ashe single to load the bases. Then Cameron Hill was walked to score Bridges, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 7-4 with no outs and the bases loaded.
Pablo Torres was Bethune-Cookman’s third pitcher of the inning and walked Grambling’s Chris Marcellus to make it a 7-5 ballgame. Martavius Thomas popped a sacrifice fly to center field to pull the Tigers within one with runners on first and second.
Torres, with the Wildcats’ season on the line, struck out Shannon Martin, and Ryan Davis flew out to center field to escape the inning with the lead still intact.
Torres closed the game with three consecutive outs in the ninth inning to seal the win for Bethune-Cookman and end Grambling State’s season.
The Wildcats will play the loser of Alabama State-Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m. on May 22. If Arkansas-Pine Bluff loses, Bethune-Cookman will have an opportunity to avenge its first-round loss to the Golden Lions.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bethune-Cookman holds off Grambling State in SWAC baseball tournament
Continue reading...
The top-seeded Wildcats were on the ropes after No. 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff upset the SWAC regular-season champions 6-4 earlier Thursday morning, but Bethune-Cookman responded to advance in the SWAC tournament’s elimination bracket.
B-CU and Grambling were tied at 1 entering the bottom of the third inning. The Tigers had scored in the top of the first on a Charles Ashe III groundout, and the Wildcats’ Jose Fernandez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second.
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Maikol Lucena singled to score Darryl Lee from third to earn Bethune-Cookman a 2-1 lead. After Fernandez singled to right-center field to load the bases with one out, Almonte stepped into the batter’s box.
He sent it over the right-field wall at Rickwood Field to extend the Wildcats’ lead to a commanding 6-1 advantage.
KNEW IT IMMEDIATELY. ALMONTE GRAND SLAM. # | #pic.twitter.com/qzVtc5VmcF
—️Bethune-Cookman Baseball (@BCUDiamondCats) May 21, 2026
It looked like Bethune-Cookman was just going to coast to the finish line, as a one-run fifth inning for both teams was the only additional tally until the eighth inning. Wildcats starter Harbersting Abreu pitched seven innings and only allowed one earned run.
And when Abreu left the game, Grambling’s bats awoke.
After Julian Carrasquilla replaced Abreu on the mound, Dillon Braxton doubled, Trey Bridges singled and a wild pitch allowed Braxton to score and Bridges to advance to second.
Anthony Anselmo was next out of the B-CU bullpen. He walked Aidan Lopez and allowed an Ashe single to load the bases. Then Cameron Hill was walked to score Bridges, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 7-4 with no outs and the bases loaded.
Pablo Torres was Bethune-Cookman’s third pitcher of the inning and walked Grambling’s Chris Marcellus to make it a 7-5 ballgame. Martavius Thomas popped a sacrifice fly to center field to pull the Tigers within one with runners on first and second.
Torres, with the Wildcats’ season on the line, struck out Shannon Martin, and Ryan Davis flew out to center field to escape the inning with the lead still intact.
Torres closed the game with three consecutive outs in the ninth inning to seal the win for Bethune-Cookman and end Grambling State’s season.
The Wildcats will play the loser of Alabama State-Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m. on May 22. If Arkansas-Pine Bluff loses, Bethune-Cookman will have an opportunity to avenge its first-round loss to the Golden Lions.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bethune-Cookman holds off Grambling State in SWAC baseball tournament
Continue reading...
