Williamsburg, KY – Late game hitting rallies by the Patriots give them another perfect day reflected on their record. The softball squad pushed 11 runs across the plate combined on the day, nine of those coming from the fourth and fifth innings in both games.
UC swept the Cumberland Phoenix after taking both games on day two, including a second shutout recorded in Friday's later game. After recording their first conference series sweep since 2014 – tallied against Bluefield College – the Patriots get back to a winning record of 14-12. The team also reaches an even 4-4 in Mid-South Conference play.
GAME ONE: WIN, 7-5
Two Patriots tab perfect at bats as
Emily Jasper goes 3-3 from the plate and
Meryn Livingston goes 2-2. Four Patriots tabbed two or more hits for UC, leading to the day's seven runs and RBIs. Jasper tacked two stolen bases onto her early outing.
In her second career start,
Krystin Wilson picked up another win to tack onto her shutout on Thursday. The rookie righty worked 4.1 innings from the circle on her way to her fourth win of the season, dishing two strikeouts in 68 pitches.
Sidney Pennycuff came in relief in the sixth, not allowing a run to score for her second consecutive save appearance.
The second pitch by Wilson found its way over the left field fence to give the Phoenix an early 1-0 lead. From the plate,
Tori Malone responded with an RBI single in the second inning to tie up the game, scoring Livingston.
The 1-1 score held until the bottom of the fifth when
Jenna Howell squared a hit to load the bases.
Hannah Stephenson punished the Phoenix with a stand-up double to clear the bases, giving the Patriots a 4-1 advantage. Jasper showcased her speed as she frequently does to safely reach first on an infield single, followed by stealing second. A walk loaded the bags once again and it was
Acacia Gray's turn to slug a two-RBI single to left field. The Patriots juiced the diamond a third time in the inning after batting around, but were unable to plate more runs.
The Phoenix slashed another home run, this time two score, in the sixth. The inning, however, was highlighted more by Howell sprinting from center toward left to successfully make the stumbling catch for the first out.
Madison Huber packed up the final outs of the inning, tapping second after the grounder and making the throw to
Maddie Sickau at second for the double play.
Pennycuff enters the game after two more runs are allowed to Cumberland, narrowing the Patriots lead to 6-5. Livingston got the call to score the insurance run with her hit to shallow right, scoring Sickau. The Patriots moved on with a 7-5 decision in the books.
GAME TWO: WIN, 4-0
Gray promoted herself to game two's best hitter, going 2-3 from the plate in the latter outing. The freshman powered a double from the batter's box, her eighth of the year, in addition to recording the 14th RBI of her 2019 campaign.
The Patriots scoring momentum got underway in the fourth inning when the squad plated Sickau. The freshman reached first initially on the misplayed grounding error by the pitcher, who failed to scoop the ball to make the play. A double by Gray sent Sickau around the diamond for the first run of the game.
Malone began a batting rally for UC as the line-up smacked four straight first-pitch hits against the Phoenix, plating two in the stretch. After the RBIs by
Sarah Biggerstaff and Stephenson, Jasper sacrificed her plate appearance to score another and give themselves a 4-0 edge going into the final innings.
While allowing seven runs on the day, the defense backed up
Jessica Webb in her appearance in the pitching circle for the Patriots. In her second consecutive appearance without earning a run, Webb tallied another shutout victory, totaling four shutout in the last six games on her 6-4 record.
Game two was a pitching battle between the Patriots and Phoenix through the first 4.5 innings, each team going one-two-three through the line-up. Over the stretch, Webb dropped three to strikes swinging. UC also tabbed double plays in back-to-back innings, the first a Huber-Sickau-Malone squeeze and the second tossed from Webb to Sickau to Malone.
The Patriots defense continued to grind in the fifth and sixth innings. Stephenson showcased her arm on the throw down to Sickau to catch the Phoenix runner attempting to steal. Webb found herself bruised up by a comeback hit to the circle, but recovered to deliver another strikeout to the subsequent batter and end the inning, stranding two on.
UP NEXT
Hiwassee College comes to town as the Patriots rematch the Tigers in a mid-week doubleheader. The games are slated to get underway at 4:00 and 6:00 PM on Tuesday at the UC Softball Complex. Cumberlands softball will be on the road next weekend as they resume MSC action at Kentucky Christian.
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