MEAC Spring
Carnival
Bethune-Cookman Picks Up Fifth
Straight
MEAC Baseball Title
Wildcats Win Eighth League Crown Since 1984
May 11, 2003
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (May 11) - The Bethune-Cookman College Wildcats won
their fifth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball title the
hard way Sunday, winning two nine-inning games, 7-4 and 9-5, to bounce third-seeded
Florida A&M in Cracker Jack Stadium at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
The Wildcats (30-26) will receive the league's automatic NCAA Regional bid
for play to begin May 30-June 1.
Florida A&M (31-21), which defeated the Wildcats in a 3-2 thriller in Saturday's
semifinals, needed just one win Sunday to capture their seventh league pennant
since 1987.
But the Wildcats, which reached Sunday's title round after a 12-3 late Saturday
knockout of North Carolina A&T, sent MEAC Player of the Year John Gragg
to the hill in Game One.
Gragg, the tournament MVP, scattered eight hits in nine innings, allowing just
three hits over the final six innings, striking out six.
He aided his own cause in the opener with three hits including a double and
triple, driving in two runs.
In Game Two, B-CC's Juan Figueroa pitched six-plus in keeping the Rattlers
at bay. He fanned four, scattering 10 hits.
