Box Score | Updated Bracket | Championship Central

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 19, 2018—Bethune-Cookman is one step closer to defending its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball title after eliminating rival Florida A&M 9-3 on a rainy Saturday at Sliwa Stadium.
 
The Wildcats (23-33) moved on to face Northern Division top seed Coppin State at 8:25 p.m. The winner of that game will take on North Carolina A&T State in the championship game on Sunday at a time to be determined.
 
After the Rattlers (25-30) took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double from Brian Davis, Bethune-Cookman tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second after Jameel Edney, who led off the frame with a double down the left field line, scored on a Kyle Corbin single.
 
Edney also led off the fourth with a double to left. Zach Spivey then reached on an error after sacrificing himself, and Edney scored to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.
 
Bethune-Cookman broke the game open in the fifth. Adonis Lao opened the frame with a single, before Nate Sterijevski and Danny Rodriguez both walked to load the bases. Jordan Stacy then brought in a run with a sac fly, before Michael Deeb singled home a run and Edney also recorded a sac fly.
 
Spivey then added an RBI single, as did Giovany Lorenzo, and by the time the fifth ended, the Wildcats led 7-1.
 
Lao singled home another run in the seventh, giving Bethune-Cookman an 8-1 lead, before the weather hit at 11:39 a.m. and halted the game for more than seven hours.
 
Once the game finally resumed at 7 p.m., the Rattlers pushed across a pair of runs in the eighth. Jacky Miles, Jr. led off the frame with a solo shot to left center – his second of the tournament and sixth of the season, before Willis McDaniel tripled and scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 8-3.
 
A Sterijevski sac fly in the ninth ended the scoring.
 
Lao went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Edney, Spivey and Lorenzo each had two hits. Eight Wildcats drove in a run.
 
Anthony Maldonado, the MEAC Pitcher of the Year, picked up his seventh win of the season after fanning six and giving up just three hits.