Feb. 25, 2008

Box Score

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman University had to hold on for dear life Monday afternoon as Temple rallied from a 4-0 deficit to cut the score to 4-3 as the final in a Wildcats victory to grab the series in the finale at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The debut for junior transfer pitcher Eric Thomas in a Maroon and Gold uniform was everything the hype was built up to be surrounding the Gainesville, Fla. native. The Gator-bound starter decided to attend B-CU after former University of Florida head coach Pat McMahon was released from his duties last spring. So, the Daytona Beach Community College prospect came up the street, literally, to Bethune-Cookman University instead of going "home" to Gainesville.

Thomas was magnificent on the hill as he went a full seven frames, allowing just one hit and one walk. Rarely was the hard-throwing right-hander in a jam, and he was equally impressive in the field with two (2) shots hit right back to him for outs with the glove.

"He was outstanding, and had command of all of his pitches today," admitted B-CU head coach Mervyl Melendez. "His velocity was up there, and he worked extremely fast. There were times where he just looked so smooth and worked so fast, I don't think we were on the field more than four or five minutes."

Meanwhile, the game was equally as impressive and exciting ... just as yesterday's nightcap of the doubleheader.

After three innings of a pitcher's duel, the B-CU (2-1) bats woke up in time to turn a Temple mistake on defense into a run in the bottom-half of the fourth inning. Shortstop José Lozada kicked off the frame with a triple off the left centerfield wall to truck into scoring position and put the heat on starting pitcher Mike Mongiardini. Wildcats centerfielder José Ortiz reached safely as the next batter after an errant throw charged to the Temple infield while Lozada sprinted in from third on contact.

B-CU led 1-0 at that point.

The Owls of Temple (1-2) starting pitcher of Mike Mongiardini was also very impressive on the mound for the Cherry and White as he went six strong innings on the mound. He gave up just the one run on two hits and fanned three Wildcats with three walks as well.

In the top-half of the eighth frame, senior hurler Phil Enright worked his way in and out of a bases-loaded jam in picture-perfect fashion with some great defense. After a wild pitch from Enright went to the right of catcher Drew Clark, he rushed to home plate where Clark hit him in stride to tag-out Temple's Kyle Obal trying to score from third. That allowed the score to remain at 1-0 in favor of the Wildcats--sporting throw-back jerseys with "Cookman" on a cream-colored jersey.

The Temple bullpen ran into some trouble in the bottom of the frame when two walks, two hits, an error and a balk quickly turned into a three-run inning for the hosts. Relief pitcher Ryan Thomas retired the only two batters he faced to escape from the jam.

Doing damage in the frame with the bat was Ortiz who plated second baseman Mark Brooks on a single to centerfield.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth frame as relief pitcher in the form of freshman Joseph Munoz, Concépcion Guzman and Felix Machado all tried their hand at avoiding a repeat of yesterday's meltdown. Yesterday's hero, freshman designated hitter Byron McKoy led off with a double. After a groundout, he scored on third baseman Matt Heltz's triple to right-center. Following an Obal walk, a RBI-groundout by Del Mastro plated Heltz to make the score 4-2. Ortega then singled and Orzechowski doubled to left to score Obal and make the score 4-3. In almost a replay of the inning before, Abercrombie was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs for Barksdale, but he grounded out to shortstop Lozada to end the contest.

"Lozada is a kid who I really like, and is going to be good," admitted Melendez. "He is the guy that wanted the ball at the end for the out to end the game. That's the kind of guy he is. He doesn't think `Bases are loaded, please don't hit it to me' but rather he wants the ball to come his way."

Sophomore Felix Machado earned the save for the Wildcats after a bad outing that gave him the loss yesterday. The sophomore pitcher bounced back today with emphatic passion in the final two at-bats for the Owls.

"That was good for Felix as he got some confidence back today," expressed Melendez. "He was really bummed out yesterday about letting the team down, and I wanted him to get the chance to get back in there today, and I'm glad he had the chance to redeem himself today after being so dejected about letting the team down yesterday. That's what is so special is he was thinking about the team, and not about his stats."

The win went to Thomas for the Maroon and Gold to bump his record to 1-0, while the efforts of a brilliant pitching performance by Temple's Mike Mongiardini had to go for a loss, in the end, to drop his record to 0-1.

At the plate, the Owls were led by Orzechowski and Ortega each with 2-for-4 outings at the plate. Orzechowski added an RBI as well. B-CU was led by Lozada with a 1-for-1 day, as well as Ortiz with a 1-for-3 outing with one run and two RBI.

"I'll say it again, and that's Temple is a good ball club," admitted Melendez. "They are well-coached, and have some good guys over there. They are going to be a force in the A-10 this year, and I wish them the best down the road. They have some good athletes on that team, and I think, again, they are going to be in the thick of things come tournament time in their league."

Bethune-Cookman hosts Florida Atlantic tomorrow night back at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Game time is set for a 6 p.m. start. For ticket information, please call the B-CU Office of Sports Information at (386) 481-2206.