Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots continued their recent winning ways Wednesday afternoon, extending their 2019 campaign record to 21-13 after a pair of wins over Pikeville. With the 7-3 and 8-0 wins over the Bears, Cumberlands sits 9-5 against MSC foes.
GAME ONE: WIN, 7-3
Game one proved to be a battle early on as the score was tight, but the Patriots performance late in the game pulled the day in Cumberlands' favor. Seven ladies combined for eight hits in the game, including two doubles tallied.
Hannah Stephenson tabbed a lead-off walk to begin the day's action and
Maddie Sickau soon followed with a single through the left side.
Meryn Livingston got the call to step up and slug her teammates around after singling through the hole at short too, giving the Patriots an early 2-0 lead.
The Patriots relinquish a solo score in the second and third innings to refresh the ball game. In her only true at bat of the early game, Stephenson let loose a big drive in the fourth to left center, giving her two bases and one batted in.
Corinne Haverland pushed Stephenson across the plate with her ninth season pinch-hit up the middle.
Jessica Webb, starting pitcher for the Patriots, allowed one more run scored for the Bears before being relieved by
Krystin Wilson in the fifth. Webb earned herself the win as Wilson would not relinquish another run on her way to her third save of the season.
The Patriots kept their forward momentum at the plate, scoring three runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Acacia Gray bunted over Sickau before Livingston sacrificed her hit to center field to allow a run scored, her third RBI of the day.
Tori Malone doubled to left center to begin the bottom of the sixth, followed by
Hayley Kilburn recording her eighth hit of the season with an infield single.
Sarah Biggerstaff put down the bunt, beating the throw at first and allowed everyone to cruise an additional base from the Bears' errant throw to first. After Malone scored on the error, Stephenson sacrificed her final at bat to allow Kilburn to score the game's seventh run, the junior's fifth of the season.
Wilson closed out the game with three strikeouts framed in the seventh. The rookie finished the day with a new season best tally with five strikeouts to her name against Pikeville.
GAME TWO: WIN, 8-0
The Patriots pitching staff continued to shine in game two as they did in the early game, this time with
Sidney Pennycuff in the circle. The veteran righty faced 20 batters through her one-hitter, allowing only two base runners in six innings of work.
Pennycuff began the game strong, dropping the first three bears to strikeouts swinging. The sophomore went on to collect five total on the day, tying her season high set at Lindsey Wilson earlier this year. In the complete game, she allowed the only hit against her in the second inning.
The Patriots once again took the early-inning lead, posting one in the first.
Emily Jasper reached base after the first baseman was unable to squeeze in the throw from across the diamond. The rookie followed up with back-to-back stolen bases to linger in scoring position. Sickau put the ball in play, singling deep into the left side and beat out the shortstop's throw for the base-hit RBI.
The 1-0 score would hold into the fourth inning when the Patriots put up three more onto the board. Gray led off with a single up the middle, followed by Livingston slamming an RBI triple to right field.
Jenna Howell tabbed her second double of the day, fourth of the season, to left field for another run across the plate.
Sickau blasted a lead-off double to left center. The rookie though she cranked it out of the park but the ball came up short, bouncing back in off the top of the wall. Livingston reaches base once again as another error is recorded against the Bears.
Olivia DeZarn, courtesy runner for the catcher, stole second base with ease.
Madison Huber lined a rocket to the right-field corner, giving herself a two-RBI triple, her sixth of the season. An errant throw back to the infield allowed the sophomore to score on the make-shift inside-the-parker.
Biggerstaff came up with the final run of the game after taking a free pass to first. Following a stolen base in the books for Biggerstaff, Stephenson squared her sixth double of the season, second of the day, to bat in the winning score to run-rule the Bears, 8-0, after six innings of action.
UP NEXT
The Patriots have a series with Georgetown lined up this weekend on the road, continuing Mid-South Conference action. Two more games on the road continue a six away-game swing for Cumberlands as the Patriots will rematch the Bears on their field next week.
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