Joseph Gautier and Phil Enright displayed a spectacular pitching performance on Saturday as Bethune-Cookman defeated North Carolina A&T State, 3-2 in the MEAC Baseball Tournament at Marty L. Miller Baseball Field in Norfolk, Va.
B-CU (35-20) used their supreme pitching exploits in the form of Joseph “Gio” Gautier to help the Wildcats in a monster match-up with North Carolina A&T. N.C. A&T (29-29) went with Marquis Frink in return on the hill.
The Aggies’ starter Frink and B-CU’s Gautier put on a show for all to see in one of the best pitcher’s duel contests in recent years of the MEAC Tournament.
“Gio [Gautier] was unreal today for us,” expressed B-CU head coach Mervyl Melendez. “He was just commanding everything, but Marquis Frink was just as good. I mean this was just a great game for everyone to enjoy who likes the game of baseball.”
B-CU used a tough first inning from Frink to go on top, 1-0.
Jos? Ortiz kicked off the bottom of the frame with a single and advanced on a balk. After Jos? Lozada was hit by a pitch and Osvaldo Torres walked, that allowed designated hitter Neal Jones to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to push in a run.
Both pitchers were helped out with great defense and great pitching before N.C. A&T tied things up in the top of the fifth. Nelson Santos started off the inning with a triple off the right field wall, and then scampered in on a fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt from shortstop Nick Mayo.
B-CU came right back in the bottom of the inning with a one-out solo homerun from MEAC Player of the Year Jos? Lozada. His first-pitch swinging shot over right field put the Maroon and Gold on top again, 2-1.
“That homerun was big for us,” stated Melendez. “He just took advantage of a pitch that Frink left high in the zone. We didn’t have many chances against him today, but that was one we took advantage of. Lozada was just instrumental at the right time.”
The most important run in the game for the ?Cats came in the bottom of the eighth when B-CU played small ball, so to speak. After Lozada was hit by a pitch for the third time in the game, Torres laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second. Freshman Emmanuel Castro then stroked a two-out single to left that allowed Lozada to truck around third heading for home ... escaping the tag for the 3-1 B-CU advantage.
The Aggies would not go quietly in the ninth as they made things interesting.
Senior designated hitter Jeremy Jones single to start the inning, and CJ Beatty was hit by a Gautier pitch to put runners in scoring position right off the bat. Gautier then got Joe McIntyre to strike out swinging, before Nick Rogers single to score Jones from second.
Relief pitcher Phil Enright for B-CU got Santos to fly out to shallow right field that didn’t allow Beatty to tag for the tying run. The last batter had a chance, but second baseman Mark Brooks fielded the ground ball for the 4-to-6 putout at second base on Rogers.
Gautier took the win for the Wildcats to improve his record to 6-2 while Frink accepted a tough loss in a complete-game to fall to 5-4.
N.C. A&T had seven hits on the day with Jones, Rogers and Santos each collecting two hits. B-CU countered with just three hits off Frink while Lozada’s homerun was the big blow.
Bethune-Cookman now faces tournament host Norfolk State University in tomorrow’s title game beginning at 2 p.m. NSU would have to defeat the Wildcats twice in order to claim the prize, while B-CU needs to win but one.