FORT MYERS, Fla. ? With five home runs, Bethune-Cookman (3-2) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and coasted to a 12-4 victory over the Tigers (1-4) in the first game of the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic at Swanson Stadium on Thursday evening.

“It was a strange game in the sense that we out-hit them and our pitchers struck out 13 hitters,” said Coach Mike Gottlieb. “The difference was that they hit five home runs and we didn't hit well with runners in scoring position.

“We didn't play well in the early innings,” admitted the Tiger coach. “We walked a few guys early and they got some big hits.”

The Wildcats, who won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship last year, took advantage of sophomore righthander Spencer Patton's control problems to take a 5-0 lead after three innings. Patton allowed seven hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. He walked four batters and had seven strikeouts.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Tigers cut their deficit to 5-1. Senior catcher Jason Stifler and junior third baseman Steve Yarsinsky led off the inning with back-to-back singles. After moving to third base on a fly ball to the outfield, Stifler scored when Austin Harclerode grounded out.

After the Wildcats increased the lead to 10-1 in the sixth inning, Stifler blasted a two-run homer to left centerfield, making it a 10-3 game. In the bottom of the seventh, an RBI single by Stifler narrowed the lead to 10-4.

Stifler went four-for-four with three RBI's to lead the Tigers while senior Matt Collins had three hits in five at  bats. Senior second baseman Gary Helmick was 2-for-3 and scored a run.

Junior lefthander Wes Shifflett pitched 3.2 innings of relief and allowed three runs on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Rightfielder Chris Brown led Bethune-Cookman with two hits and three RBI's.

The Tigers return to action in the second round of the FGCU Classic on Friday evening when they face the host Eagles at 8:00 p.m.