Georgetown, KY - In the top of the eighth inning,
Tori Malone scored the game-winning run against Georgetown, giving the Patriots a 5-4 edge in game one. The rookie went 2-6 at the plate on the day while the softball team later dropped game two of the doubleheader to relinquish the series the Tigers.
After the split day, Cumberlands ranks 22-16 overall on the season, 10-8 in Mid-South Conference action. The win gives the team the program's most wins in a season since 2007, finishing with 26.
GAME ONE: WIN, 5-4
The Patriots saw improvement at the plate since Friday's doubleheader, as Malone and company put up eight hits in the early game against the Tigers including two doubles and a triple.
Emily Jasper tallied the triple in the first inning, putting the speedy baserunner in scoring position early.
Maddie Sickau followed with a single to left in her at bat for her first of three RBIs on the day, allowing her teammate to score for a 1-0 lead early in the game.
Hannah Stephenson worked her count to walk to first, counting her third stolen base of the season moments later. After advancing on a groundout,
Meryn Livingston slammed an RBI-double to left center to bring around her fellow catcher and give the Patriots a 2-0 advantage.
Sidney Pennycuff relinquished a triple to her first batter of the game, but held her opponents scoreless until the third inning, when the Tigers scored one. In her 5.2-inning span, the lefty tossed four more strikeouts on top of her nine dished on Friday, only allowing one batter a free ride to first base on balls.
The Tigers took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning to put pressure on the Patriots hitting line-up.
Hannah Stephenson led late-game rally, tabbing a base-hit to left field. A missed fly-ball catch by the left fielder resulted in Jasper reaching third base and Stephenson scoring to tie the ball game. Sickau sacrificed her at bat, successfully bunting quick-paced Jasper home for the score and the lead.
Georgetown once again responded with a run of their own to refresh the game but the Patriots kept the ball rolling in their favor. Malone led off the inning with a walk, and found herself in scoring position with the bases juiced after base hits by
Jenna Howell and pinch-hitter
Corinne Haverland. An errant throw by the first baseman to the plate on Stephenson's hit allowed the Patriots to go up on the Tigers by one.
Krystin Wilson, relieving Pennycuff in the sixth, dropped one of her batters in the eighth to strikes swinging and two more to fly-outs, giving her and the team an extra-inning win. Wilson totaled three strikeouts in her 2.1-inning affair, allowing one run off two hits.
GAME TWO: LOSS, 3-1
The Patriots once again posted the first run of the game, this time not until the third inning.
Acacia Gray tabbed an infield singled in her lead-off at bat. Howell followed her path with a walk while
Sarah Biggerstaff loaded the bases with the second infield single of the frame. A hit-by-pitch allowed the two-out score to cross the plate, giving the away team a run advantage.
Jessica Webb found herself in a pitching battle with Georgetown until the bottom of the third. The Tigers responded to their run relinquished by muscling three of their own against the sophomore. In the loss, Webb allowed only one more hit after the third-inning deficit.
The Patriots bowed out in the seventh, unable to get any production on the base path as Malone was caught stealing to end the game. Webb tallied her second loss of the weekend, delivering three strikeouts and earning two runs in the complete game.
UP NEXT
The Patriots round out their road-game swing with a mid-week twin bill with the Pikeville Bears. The two meet once again to complete the MSC series in Pikeville, KY on Wednesday, April 17 with first pitch set for 3:00 PM.
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