For the first time in 710 days, the Wildcats brought home a victory at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, taking down Youngstown State, 3-1 Friday night.
How It Happened
The Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 SWAC) open the 2022 season 1-0 on the back of a stellar pitching performance from Sophomore Louis Lipthratt. The right-hander hurled seven innings of scoreless ball, allowing only three hits and a pair of walks and striking out 6 in his B-CU debut.
“Louis gave us a chance every inning,” Wildcats head coach Jonathan Hernandez said after the game. “That’s what you look for in your Friday night guys.
Two of the three Wildcat runs came via the wild pitch. B-CU opened the scoring early as Malik Stephens led off with a single in the bottom of the first inning. Stephens quickly stole second and advanced to third on a wide throw from home plate. He scored the opening run a few pitches later on a ball to the backstop.
The lone B-CU RBI came an inning later, as Colton Olasin drove in Jeremy Garcia with a base hit.
The Wildcats manufactured their final run in the sixth inning as Dakota Grove was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, moved to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and crossed the plate on another wild pitch.
Youngstown State (0-1, 0-0 Horizon League) produced its lone run on a solo homer in the top of the ninth from Padr O’Shaughnessy.
B-CU finished with seven hits on the night.
“We wanted to get to their bullpen early,” Hernandez said. “Our guys did a great job doing that. No matter how you score runs, they still go up on the scoreboard. We’ve just got to bunch up those hits a little bit more.”