Pikeville, KY – UC would lead wire-to-wire in the contest, but the Patriots would have to put up double digit runs to outlast the Bears of the University of Pikeville 11-10 on the road on Friday night. The win improves the Patriots to 37-4 overall on the season and kept Cumberlands unblemished in Mid-South Conference play at 8-0.
Bryan Benz gave UC the lead in the top of the second with his 13
th home run on the season, a two-run shot giving the Patriots a 2-0 lead. UPike cut the lead in half with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to make it 2-1. Cumberlands added four more in the sixth highlighted by a two-run double from
Andrew Ramos, pushing UC out front 6-2. The Bears would score four of their own in the sixth, including two on a single by Jay Vincent, to cut the lead back to 6-5.
A two-run double from Benz gave him four RBI in the game in the seventh as Cumberlands would go back out front by three at 8-5. The Bears would take one back with a RBI single by Matt Peterson in the bottom of the inning, making it 8-6 UC after seven innings of play. The Patriots scored three more in the top of the eighth, two coming on RBI singles from
Alex Dominguez and
Andrew Ramos, to make it 11-6 Patriots.
In the ninth, it would take UC going back to their bullpen for a third time in the game as
Hampton Clark would finally come in to get the save after the Bears scored four, but would leave the tying and go-ahead runs on the bags in the 11-10 win.
The win would go to
Manny Castellano as he pitched five innings allowing five runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while sitting three down on strikes.
Hampton Clark would earn his first save of the season as he would secure the final two outs of the ninth. Full statistics are available online.
The Patriots will continue MSC play on Saturday, April 14
th with the Bears of Pikeville with a doubleheader beginning at 12 pm in Pikeville.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots, Instagram - @UCPatriots, SnapChat - @UC_Patriots, YouTube – Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.