March 6, 2010

Box Score - Maine | Box Score - Appalachian State

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DeLAND, Fla. - The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman softball returned to play, Saturday, at the Stetson Invitational at Patricia Wilson Field. Despite turning in a solid performance overall, two innings made all the difference, translating into two losses for the Wildcats. First up, a rematch with Maine looked promising in a true slugfest, featuring six home runs in the game. With the game tied up in the fourth, UM fired off four runs to take a commanding lead, winning 8-4. Against Appalachian State, a defensive battle ensued, with B-CU leading up to the top of the seventh, but four errors in the final stretch pushed ASU up 7-2 for the win.

In the opening game, rematching with the University of Maine, the Black Bears took the first stab at the scoreboard, putting in a single run. However, the Wildcats responded in the top of the third, setting off one of the biggest hitting games in the early season. With Aurelia Gamch on base, Cesley Tafoya fired a long distance home run over the left field fence, taking a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, UM responded in kind, with the leadoff batter sent a homer over the left field fence. Three batters later, Maine took another long ball over the fence.

Michelle Banuelos-Smith continued her great hitting of late, cracking another solo home run over the center field fence, knotting up the score at 3-3. The Black Bears were quick to respond, and their hits made a breaking point for the game. In the bottom of the fourth, UM collected five hits, and four runs to take a commanding 7-3 lead. UM got on the board once more with a home run, and Aurelia Gamch added one more home run in the fifth, but fell to Maine, 8-4.

Aurelia Gamch led all B-CU hitters, tallying 3 hits in 4 at-bats, including her first home run of the season. In addition to Gamch, Cesley Tafoya (first of the year) and Michelle Banuelos-Smith both collected home runs. Liz Parrish led the team on defense, making 8 putouts. Allison Garcia started and finished the game on the mound, with 6 strikeouts against Maine.

In the second game, facing Appalachian State, the Wildcats ran into the polar opposite situation. Against ASU, B-CU found a defensive struggle. ASU took a lead in the third inning, 1-0, on a Wildcat fielding error. The Wildcats responded in the next two innings, starting with a Michelle Banuelos-Smith home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth. A long Cesley Tafoya single to left pushed in another run, as Aurelia Gamch scored from second, taking a 2-1 lead.

After two innings in which the Wildcats held the Black Bears to no hits, and things looked good as top of the seventh opened. However, two consecutive errors, just two batters into the UM lineup, landed one Maine runner on home plate to tie up the game. That was just the start of a wild inning that did not bode well for the Wildcats. Running through their entire batting order, UM scored six total runs in the seventh, with four hits for the Black Bears, supplemented by four total B-CU errors, closing the inning with a UM lead at 7-2. Maine shut down three straight Wildcats to lock in the B-CU loss.

Michelle Banuelos-Smith and Cesley Tafoya both earned RBI's against Maine. Joana Hernandez led on defense with 11 putouts. Allison Garcia (6-8) wrapped up a long day, starting and closing both games. Garcia threw 241 pitches on the day, and collected 4 strikeouts against Maine.

The Wildcats (7-13) have one more day to compete at the Stetson Invitational, as they return Sunday for the consolation game in the tournament.