Box Score
ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University baseball program broke free of a 17-game, four-year skid spell that Bethune-Cookman had over them, knocking off the visitors from Daytona Beach, 8-6 in game one.
Coming into the evening, Valley had not beaten BCU since April 22, 2022 while the Wildcats were in a three-way tie for first place in the conference and had just defeated #24 LSU in Baton Rouge earlier in the week.
The Basics:
- Score
- Mississippi Valley – 8
- Bethune-Cookman – 6
- Records
- Mississippi Valley (11-19, 7-6 SWAC)
- Bethune-Cookman (23-11, 10-3 Sun Belt)
- Series History (Since 1983)
- Wildcats Lead 19-3 (13.6%)
- Winning Streak (Since 1983)
- Diamond Devils (W1) / Wildcats' Last Win: April 5, 2025 (15-5)
Diamond Devils' Top Performers:
- Both backstops parked pitchers over the fence as Jaxon Haynes connected on a two-run shot and Ty Burns crushed a pinch-hit solo blast.
- Chris Soeder continued his power surge with a two-RBI long ball to hit a significant milestone as his tenth career round-tripper.
- Luke Richard earned the victory by persevering through six frames of four-run baseball along with four whiffs scattered about.
- Tom Early made three safe trips onto the base paths via two walks and a single, driving in a run on his knock.
- Both Eric Williams and Cody Leming recorded multiple hits as the duo combined to go 4-for-8 (.500) and a run scored apiece while the former tacked on a triple whereas the latter laced a two-bagger on top of their singles.
- Logan Darnell picked up the three inning save for his second of 2026, walking none and striking out two to tightrope out of dangerous situations.
- Johnny Escobalez Jr. played small ball and showcased old classic baseball skills courtesy of logging both a sacrifice fly on top of MVSU's singular steal.
Next:
- The Green and White hosts a doubleheader Saturday versus B-CU at 1 and 4 p.m. with both games being broadcast on SWAC TV.
Follow the Mississippi Valley State baseball program on Twitter / X (@ValleyStateBSB) and Instagram (@ValleyStateBSB).
Follow the Delta Devils on Facebook (Valley State Athletics), Twitter / X (@MVSUDevilSports), and Instagram (@ValleyStateAthletics).
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