Bethune-Cookman pitcher Eric Thomas was phenomenal on the mound as he helped the Wildcats cruise to a 7-1 victory in baseball action over North Carolina A&T State in a MEAC match-up at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla. The game was broadcast live on ESPNU.
Eric Thomas was put right into the lights, literally, on Sunday as the hard-throwing junior from Gainesville, Fla. showed the league and the nation just how powerful he really is on the mound. He went six full frames on the bump for the Wildcats, and allowed just one run on five hits.
N.C. A&T elected to go with one of their aces on the mound in the form of Tim Johnson today, as head coach Keith Shumate mixed things up for the television audience.
B-CU jumped on Johnson early in the first as senior shortstop Jos? Lozada singled with two outs, and classmate Osvaldo Torres doubled to right center to bring in Lozada for the 1-0 Wildcats advantage.
Both pitchers settled in nicely for a while, until the Wildcats found a way to get to Johnson again in the fourth frame. That’s when right fielder Neal Jones singled and stole second, followed by a RBI shot to left field from catcher Jeremy Ruperto that advanced the B-CU lead to 2-0. Ruperto was playing behind the dish all weekend after the injury to starting catcher Drew Clark last Tuesday at Stetson where he was hit by a pitch, unintentionally, while at-bat.
B-CU got the better of Johnson again as they had their biggest inning of the day in the fifth with four runs coming in to score. Patrick Jones started off the at-bat with a double down the left field line, while sophomore left fielder Justin Hoyte walked to put two men on early. Senior second baseman Mark Brooks advanced both runners with a perfectly-placed bunt single. That set-up Lozada to register two RBI with a single to straight-away center to put the Wildcats up at that point, 4-0.
Lozada later advanced on a wild pitch and Brooks scored to make it, 5-0. The score jumped to 6-0 following a Torres single.
The last run of the day was scored in the home-half of the sixth as Hoyte doubled and later scored on a Brooks single shot back up the middle.
The Aggies got their lone run of the day in the top-half of the sixth when Joe McIntyre singled and advanced on an error charged to the B-CU infield to get himself into scoring position. McIntyre advanced to third on a wild pitch and later was plated by a RBI single to shortstop from Nick Mayo.
The win went to Thomas who kept his record flawless at 5-0 on the year. He collected five strikeouts while allowing just three walks. The loss went to Johnson who threw 118 pitches in 6.1 innings on the bump, allowing seven runs (all earned) on 10 hits. He did collect seven strikeouts, however, and walked four batters.
The Aggies were led at the plate by center fielder James Howard who was 2-for-4, while three other Aggies each had one hit. Hitless on the day was the big duo of the Aggies in the form of CJ Beatty and Jeremy Jones. The two combined for a 0-for-6 appearance at the plate with two strikeouts, respectively.
B-CU was led by Hoyte with a 2-of-4 day with two runs scored, as well as Brooks, Lozada and Torres with two hits each?all in order as the batting order for the Wildcats in lead-off fashion. Lozada and Torres each had two RBI, while Ruperto added a RBI of his own.
B-CU will get back to the diamond again on Tuesday night when they travel back down the road to DeLand to face-off against Volusia County foe Stetson University. The game will take place at Melching Field at Conrad Park with the first pitch set for 7 p.m.