Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A pair of big innings propelled Bethune-Cookman to an 11-5 win over the Norfolk State softball team Sunday afternoon at Sunnyland Park.

After NSU took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, the Wildcats scored six runs in the bottom half of the inning and tallied five more in the fifth to sweep the conference-opening series. Bethune-Cookman improved to 15-20 overall and 3-0 in the MEAC. NSU dropped to 7-16, 0-3.

Allison Garcia (10-7) got the start for the Wildcats for the third time on the weekend and earned the win, giving up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in all seven innings. Freshman Jamie Schulle (1-7) suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs on six hits in 2.1 innings.

Freshman Morgan Boyd had three hits for the Spartans, while freshman Kathy Cortez and senior Jeanette Sauceda each went 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.

Leadoff hitter Ashton Hinds led the Wildcats with a 3-for-5 day with two runs and two RBI. Kelsey Rodney added two hits and three RBI, while Garcia and Cesley Tafoya each added two RBI.

Sophomore Gipsy Ramirez reached on an error by Wildcat third baseman Rodney in the top of the third to start a four-run rally for the Spartans. Junior Candice Vasquez walked before Boyd hit a one-bagger to score Ramirez. Junior Danielle Wright then moved Boyd and Vasquez up a base, and Cortez followed with a single to center to make it 2-0.

Sauceda and junior Whitney Holland hit back-to-back singles to score Boyd and Cortez to push the lead to 4-0. Bethune-Cookman, though, tallied six runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead for good.

Briana Leverett and Hinds hit back-to-back singles to lead off the third, and after Garcia walked to load the bases, Tafoya singled home a pair of runs to make it 4-2. Rodney followed that up with a three-run shot to left field to give the Wildcats a 5-4 advantage.

After senior Alyssa Velazquez came in to pitch, two more singles by the Wildcats eventually put runners on second and third before a wild pitch scored the last run of the inning.

The Spartans left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, and then the Wildcats pushed across five more runs in the bottom half of the frame. A Leverett groundout with the bases loaded scored the first run, and a two-run single by Hinds plated two more. Garcia lined a two-run single to right for the last two runs of the inning and an 11-4 lead. Bethune-Cookman loaded the bases up again, but relief pitcher Casey Pomeroy got Sabrina Ferguson to ground out to short to end the inning.

NSU scored the last run of the game in the seventh inning when Sauceda singled into center field to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a pair of groundouts. An error on Rodney allowed Sauceda to score, and after Ramirez singled to put runners on first and second, Garcia forced a harmless groundout back to the circle for the win.

NSU will return to the state of Florida next weekend for a three-game series with Florida A&M.