Williamsburg, KY – UC Baseball was at it again on Tuesday with a mid-week doubleheader against the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan, a team that handed the Patriots a 16-4 loss to open their season. Today, Cumberlands would respond by sweeping the two-game set by scores of 5-4 and 4-1, pushing UC's overall record to 26-3 on the season. The two wins also extended the Patriots' winning streak to 22 games, tying the longest streak in program history from 1972.
 
Game one was handed off to senior Anthony Martinez, who was ready to take on the task.  After a scoreless first, the Bulldogs would get on the board in the second on a RBI single by Chris Baetzel, pushing TWU out front 1-0. That would hold until the bottom of the third where UC would take advantage of a pair of blunders by the Bulldogs.
 
With two down and the bases loaded, Alex Dominguez would hit a ground ball to short, but the hustle by Orley Arellano to second forced a bad throw by the TWU shortstop resulting in an E6, bringing two runs home and giving UC a 2-1 lead. Daniel Diaz would follow with a two-run double off the left field wall, bringing the score to 4-1 Patriots. After a balk advanced Diaz to third, another error, this time on the third baseball for the Bulldogs, would allow Andrew Ramos to make his way on as well as Diaz to score, making it 5-1 UC after three.  
 
In the fourth, the Bulldogs would respond as Aloysious Cruz would hit a two-run home run to right field, cutting the lead to 5-3 Pats. There, Martinez would settle as the Patriot defense would back him up well. With a two run lead entering the seventh and final inning, Martinez would stay in the game looking for the complete game win. After a pair of hits by the Bulldogs would score one, Martinez would buckle down and get the final out of the inning on a ground ball to first baseman Dominguez, giving UC the 5-4 win. Martinez earned the complete game win going seven innings allowing four earned runs on seven hits and three walks while fanning seven.
 
Cody Spencer would be called upon to start game two and would deliver a gem for the Patriot pitching staff. Scoring would get started in the bottom of the second as UC would again take advantage of a pair of Bulldog errors. With two down and two on, an E6 would allow the Patriots to get the bases loaded with Reed Spata coming to the plate. A ground ball to second would be misplayed by Brandon Walsh, resulting in an E4 and allowing a run to score to give UC a 1-0 lead. Roberto Prado would then add to the Bulldogs' misfortune with a two-run single right back up the middle to extend the Pats' lead to 3-0 after two.
 
The Patriots would add another run in the bottom of the third. After a leadoff single and stolen base by Raudy Martinez, another E4 by Walsh would put runners on the corners with no one down. A perfectly played safety squeeze would be laid down by Diaz, adding a run to UC's lead to make it 4-0 after three. The Bulldogs would not go quietly though as Cruz would hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, cutting the lead to 4-1.
 
From there, Spencer would go into cruise control. After a walk in the fourth, Spencer would retire eight straight batters to get one down in the seventh. After a hot shot back up the middle that hit Spencer and trickled for a base hit, his teammates would back him up in the best possible way as he would induce a 6-4-3 game ending double play to give UC the 4-1 win. Spencer earned the complete game victory going seven strong allowing the one run on just two hits and a walk while sitting five down on strikes.
 
UC is scheduled to host Alice Lloyd College for a single game on Wednesday, March 28^th with game time scheduled for 3 pm. Impending weather may cause a change in the schedule, so please stay tuned to UC's social media outlets for up-to-date schedule information.
 
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