Madisonville, TN – UC would rely on its aggressiveness at the plate as well as its depth in the bullpen to come away with a doubleheader sweep of the Tigers of Hiwassee today, coming away with an 8-4 win in game one along with a 6-3 win in game two. The pair of wins pushes the Patriots to 22-3 overall on the season and extends their winning streak to six games.
 
Game One: Persistent Pitching Pays Off
Tyler Morris would get the start for UC and had a solid start for the Patriots, but would run into a couple of jams early which caused his pitch count to raise much quicker than he and the Cumberlands' coaching staff expected. In the top of the first, Robbie Stroub would start things off with a leadoff single. Britton Elmore would come in to courtesy run and immediately steal second. Working himself to a full count, center fielder Orley Arellano would then go to work as he would pound the 3-2 pitch deep over the left field fence for a two-run home run, his sixth of the season, to give UC a 2-0 lead. Hiwassee would respond in their half of the inning as a walk and stolen base would lead to the runner advancing to third on a deep fly ball and coming home to score on a passed ball, cutting the lead to 2-1 Patriots.
 
The Tigers would tie the game in the bottom of the second on an error by the Patriots, one of three they would commit in the game, as the game would be tied at two after two played. UC would retake the lead in the third on an RBI single by Raudy Martinez, making the score 3-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Hiwassee would respond again on an RBI double by Dylan Ganci to tie the game up again at three after four innings of play.
 
In the top of the fifth, UC's offense would once again go to work. Martinez would come to the plate with one down and would give Cumberlands the lead once again, this time sending a 1-1 pitch well over the left field fence for a solo shot, his fifth of the year, to push the Patriots out front 4-3. After a pitching change with two down and the bases loaded, a balk would be called that advanced all runners 90 feet, bringing home Jose Rojas to extend the lead to 5-3.
 
Moise Carrasco would come into the game on the mound for UC and would go to work. UC gave him some insurance runs in the top of the sixth on a bases loaded RBI hit-by-pitch to Martinez, giving him three RBI in the game. A pair of sacrifice flies also brought two more runs in for the Patriots, widening the lead to 8-3. Hiwassee would scrap together one run in the bottom of the seventh, but that's all they could muster as UC would win the game by four.
 
Morris would get the win to move to 4-0 on the year with four innings pitched allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks. Carrasco would earn the nine-out save throwing the final three innings allowing one unearned run on three hits and a walk. The win marks the first win since March 25, 2015 over Brescia in which UC would win the game without striking out one batter on the opposing team.
 
Game Two: Early Run Production Provides Support for Win
UC would step to the plate in the top of the first looking to get things going early and did just that. After loading the bases on three straight singles, Jose Rojas would single to left to bring home a run. After a collision in left field by the shortstop and left fielder sent players into question on what the call was, two players from UC would eventually be called out due to missing a bag as well as leaving the field of play, leaving a runner on and two down for Bryan Benz. There, Benz would make it hurt for the Tigers. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Benz would send it over the right field wall for a two-run home run, his sixth of the year, making it 3-0 Patriots.
 
UC would add to the lead in the second as Arellano would single to left, bringing home a pair of Patriots to make it a 5-0 lead. Cumberlands' starting pitcher J.T. Baksha would not allow his first runs of the gam until the bottom of the third as two Tigers would cross on a pair of errors by UC, cutting the lead to 5-2. Another run would cross for Hiwassee in the bottom of the fifth, again on another error by the Patriots, to shrink the lead to just two at 5-3 after five innings of play.
 
In the sixth, UC would get a run back on a solo shot from Bryan Leef that cleared the center field fence, his team leading eighth of the year, to make it 6-3 Patriots. After a leadoff double for Hiwassee in the sixth, Hampton Clark would come into the contest. After a walk and a strikeout, Clark would induce a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning unmarked. Cumberlands would bring in Arellano from the DH position to close out the game and secure the save. After a pair of walks, the Tigers would be retired without scoring as UC would earn the 6-3 win.
 
Baksha, now 2-0, earned the win for his efforts after hurling five innings of work allowing three unearned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out one. Arellano notched his second save of the year while Clark would get the hold for his inning of work.
 
UP NEXT
UC returns to the road on Wednesday, March 20^th as they travel northeast for a non-conference rivalry contest with the Bulldogs of Union College. First pitch set for 2 pm.
 
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