The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats have put themselves in ideal position for an NCAA Tournament return.
With a 12-1 blowout of Grambling State in their regular-season finale on May 16, the Wildcats (37-18) clinched the regular-season SWAC title for the second year in a row. That provided them with the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
Bethune-Cookman won the league tourney in 2025 and advanced to the national bracket. It finished 10-0 in series against SWAC opponents this spring.
And it wasted no time against the Tigers. In the bottom of the first inning against Jackie Robinson Ballpark, the Wildcats set themselves up with nine runs.
Maikol Lucena plated the first run on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Jose Fernandez made it 2-0 on a fielder’s choice.
The chaos kept coming.
Erick Almonte stroked a two-run single to right field. After a Sergio Rivera fielder’s choice and a throwing error pushed B-CU’s advantage to 5-0, Darryl Lee tripled to bring home two more runs. Lee scored moments later on a wild pitch.
For the final of the frame’s nine tallies, Fernandez had an RBI infield single.
The Wildcats didn’t stop there.
In the second inning, Lee picked up another RBI on a single to right field.
B-CU tacked on its 11th and 12th runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Andrey Martinez had an RBI groundout, and Rivera drew a walk with the bases juiced.
That created a leisurely day for the Wildcats’ pitching staff. Tanner Boccabello started and earned the win with four innings. He gave up five hits and one walk and struck out two batters.
The Tigers picked up their only run in the top of the fourth. Shannon Martin knocked an RBI single back up the middle.
Anthony Anselmo, Bryon Rincones, Justin Morales and Pablo Torres combined for three shutout innings out of the Bethune-Cookman bullpen.
With their 37th victory of the season, the Wildcats extended their program record established earlier in the series. They’ll kick off the SWAC Tournament against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on May 20 in Birmingham.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bethune-Cookman baseball wraps up regular-season SWAC championship
Reporting by Chris Vinel, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
