Feb. 09, 2008

Box Score

Tampa, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman was unable to collect their first two wins of the season on Saturday after falling to Illinois (9-1) and host team University of South Florida (8-0) on the second day of the USF Wilson Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

After a pair of shutouts yesterday, B-CU (0-4) finally got on the board on Saturday as they were defeated by a score of 9-1 by the University of Illinois back at the USF Softball Stadium on the campus of the University of South Florida.

The Wildcats trailed 2-0 after the top-half of the first inning before finally getting on the board when senior Holly Bussey drilled an RBI single down the right field line to bring in freshman Ashton Hinds from third base.

B-CU trailed 2-1 after the first inning of play.

The Illini (2-1) continued their strong play in this weekend's tournament immediately after that as they scored six runs over the course of the final three innings to close-out the contest. The `Cats hung tough until that point with great pitching from freshman Allison Garcia.

The Illini was led by Angelena Mexicano with a 2-for-4 day at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI. Behind her was Shanna Diller with a solid 3-for-4 outing and two RBI.

B-CU was led by Bussey's 1-for-2 outing at the plate with the only RBI of the tournament so far for the `Cats. Hinds and fellow freshman Anush Mooradian both collected hits as well.

Garcia went the full way on the mound for B-CU in the loss as she gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits with five strikeouts. She fell to 0-2 on the year with the loss. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitcher's circle, Illinois' Vicky Brown collected the win to improve to 1-0 on the year. She scattered three hits through three innings in the circle.

In the second game of the day, host team USF (3-0) jumped on the `Cats early-on as pitching and hitting were almost perfect in the contest. The Bulls rode the arm of Capri Catalano and Kristen Gordon to hold the Wildcats to just one (1) hit in the run-rule contest through five innings.

B-CU's lone hit came from Bussey.

USF, on the other hand, used a strong hitting performance from Britta Giddens as she went 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored and two RBI. Teammate Aya Nakajima also registered two RBI on one hit for the Bulls.

Freshman pitcher Chastity Sanders was roughed up in her second outing of the season as she gave up six runs (all earned) on five hits while allowing five hits in three complete innings in the pitcher's circle. Freshman Taryn Hernandez helped out as she went one inning while allowing two earned runs on three hits.

The Wildcats will finish up their opening weekend of play at the USF Wilson Tournament tomorrow back at the USF Softball Stadium when they play the University of Memphis at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available through Game Tracker on the official home for all 17 B-CU athletic sports at www.BCCathletics.com.