Bethune-Cookman eliminated 12-6 in Gainesville Regional by FAU

GAINESVILLE, FL — Sean Bukovich and Anthony Mesa drove in three runs apiece and Florida Atlantic eliminated Bethune-Cookman from the NCAA tournament with a 12-6 victory. The Owls (36-23) pounded out 18 hits, including eight for extra bases, and advanced to play Oregon State or Florida in the Gainesville regional Sunday. The Wildcats (35-22), back on the field about 12 hours after losing in the opening round, stranded five runners in scoring position and hit into two double plays. They fell to 1-20 in regional play.

After not getting key hits in Friday’s opening 6-4 loss to the Beavers, Saturday everyone was hitting with men on, as eight Owls had at least one RBI in the game. The Owls are now 57-15 all-time versus the Wildcats, and Bethune still has just one win in its 11 regional appearances. Hats off to starter Ryan Garton, who did not wilt in the scorching heat of a 1 p.m. start, going 7 innings and giving up 5 runs on 11 hits to preserve the bullpen for Sunday’s must-win game. Climbing out of loser’s bracket will be tough. If Florida wins, the Owls would need to beat the Beavers and then beat the Gators in two straight games.

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Florida downs Bethune-Cookman, 7-3

Coach Mervyl Melendez and the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats fall to 1-19 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Gainesville, FL -- Freshman right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) notched a career-high 10 strikeouts over 7.1 innings as top-seeded Florida (43-15) defeated fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman (35-21), 7-3, on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. In his NCAA Regional debut, the rookie (8-3) did not allow a hit until the fifth inning in picking up his sixth-straight victory. The fourth-ranked Gators will meet third-seeded Oregon State (32-22) in a winner’s bracket game at 7 p.m. tomorrow live on Sun Sports, while the Wildcats face second-seeded Florida Atlantic (35-23) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. The Beavers edged the Owls, 6-4, earlier this afternoon.

“Hudson Randall was outstanding on the mound,” third-year head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We knew Bethune-Cookman would be a tough opponent. We jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but like we expected, they battled and gave it everything they had. It was hard to pull away from them. Bethune is always tough and they proved it again tonight.” The Wildcats used a two-out RBI single by sophomore Alejandro Sanchez (2-for-4) to narrow the gap to 4-1 in the fifth. Leonard had come through with Bethune-Cookman’s first hit with a one-out double just out of the reach of senior center fielder Matt den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). Although Randall had junior Emmanuel Castro fly out, Sanchez lined a single into left field that eluded a diving Pigott to score Leonard.

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