2025’s run for the FAMU baseball team was an overall success, but it couldn’t have ended in a worse way, as The Rattlers fell to the Bethune Cookman Wild Cats 11-9.
After a slow start that included 5 losses in a row, The Rattlers found their footing, stringing together wins that helped lead to their 32-25 record across all competitions. A 4-game improvement from last year.
Saying that The Rattlers were superior in conference play would be an understatement.
At the end of the regular season The Rattlers played their way to a remarkable SWAC record of 24-6, and found themselves sitting atop of the conference standings.
Throughout the season The Rattlers were a dominant force in the SWAC. Winning a total of 9 series, sweeping 6 of them. Performances like holding Prairie View A&M to 3 runs in as many games, and out-scoring Alcorn State 27-8 in that series sweep are examples of FAMU’s firm control over the conference.
As fate would have it, the only school to get the best of the Rattlers in a series were their bitter rivals, Bethune Cookman University.
In a decisive 3-0 sweep.
The Wildcats seemed to have The Rattler’s number all year, and that remained true in the SWAC Championship game.
After winning 3 out of 4 of their SWAC tournament games, FAMU faced off against their arch nemesis to determine who would head to the NCAA tournament.
After leading 7-3 at the top of the 7th inning, The Rattlers’ path to victory seemed clear, but after a monumental collapse, they gave up 8 runs in the next 3 innings.
With 2 outs and two runners on base, relief pitcher Carson Kelly stood across from the SWAC home run leader Andrey Martinez who blasted the walk off game winner.
Though the game finished in a heartbreaking defeat, the success of this campaign shouldn’t be overlooked. But instead, used to catapult them even further into the next season.
