The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (7-6) fought off two rally attempts from Central Michigan (3-8) before ending the Chippewas' comeback attempt with a big seventh inning and solid relief performances from the bullpen, en route to a 10-5 victory Tuesday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, taking B-CU to a winning record for the first time in the 2013 campaign.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the third as David Lee put a hot shot single through the left side, and Brandon Turner scored from second after drawing a leadoff walk to reach base. Matt Noble reached on a fielder's choice, batting in Josh Johnson on the play, and a hard-hit single to the shortstop added an RBI for Eric Sams and a 3-0 lead for B-CU.
The Chippewas countered in the top of the fifth, using three hits and a pair of stolen bases to narrow the deficit to a single run, snapping starter Montana Durapau's 23-inning scoreless streak. CMU followed up in the top of the sixth, punching in the game-tying run with a well-placed single to shallow right center, moving the score to 3-3. Michael Austin entered in relief with two outs and a runner in scoring position, securing a key swinging strikeout to wrap the frame.
The Wildcats responded in the home part of the inning again starting with a leadoff walk for Turner, who made the steal for an advance to third and crossed the dish on a high-flying Lee single to the edge of the infield. Eros Modena tacked on another, scoring on a wild pitch to put B-CU up 5-3.
In the top of the seventh, the Chippewas would again threaten, as a speeding single took a tough hop off the clay past third base to move runners into scoring position. Back-to-back hard-hit singles through the middle allowed CMU to put up a pair of runs and again knot the score, then at 5-5, halted as Jordan Dailey moved from the bullpen to the mound to shut the door with a strikeout and a groundout.
Three straight B-CU walks in the bottom of the seventh set the table, an Johnson's power shot to the right side converted the bases-loaded situation to plate two more and break the game open. Turner went on to score on a wild pitch, while Johnson came home on Modena's deep double to left center. Modena logged B-CU's third score on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 10-5.
Christopher Waltermire took the hill in the top of the ninth, downing three of four CMU batters faced to finalize the five-run victory.
Dailey (2-0) would earn the win with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings, taking the hill from Austin, who logged two strikeouts in one inning, after Durapau took the first 5 1/3 with five K's.
The fourth of six pitchers to face the Wildcats, CMU's Scott Marinier (0-1) took the loss after walking the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Johnson led the Wildcats at the plate with 2-for-4 batting, two runs scored and two RBI. Lee added a 2-for-5 performance with two RBI, while turner hit 1-for-1 while earning three bases on balls and scoring three runs.
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