Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Pulaski, TN - Clutch, late-game hitting from Emily Bryant and Hailey Wood helped the 21st-ranked Patriots to a day-one sweep of Martin Methodist by the score of 3-2 (8 innings) and 2-1 (9 innings). The wins improves Cumberlands to 21-5 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in Mid-South Conference action. 
 
In the eighth inning of game one, Bryant delivered a two-run homerun to give the Patriots a 3-1 lead. The homer is Bryant's fifth of the year and gives her 22 RBI in 25 games this season. During the ninth inning of a tied game two, Wood pulled a double to deep left-center to score Tori Malone from second base and give the Pats a 2-1 advantage.
 
The story of both games was the Patriots superb defensive play. Over the two games, UC only gave up a total of three runs. During game one, Talli Burgess took the mound in the fourth inning and notched seven strikeouts over five innings of work to secure the win. Kaci Goedde was credited with the win in game two after she came entered the game in relief and recorded three big strikeouts. 
 
Game One: Patriots win 3-1 (8 innings)
The Patriots got their offense going early in the series. Leading off the second inning, Maddie Sickau got a hold of an 0-1 pitch and sent a moon shot over the left field fence for a homerun. The homerun is Sickau's team-leading seventh of the season and gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead.   
 
The score remained that way until the bottom of the third inning, with a runner on first base, Hannah Ward singled into right field. Wood picked up the ball and sent an absolute strike to Bryant at third base to tag out Sydney Self, who was attempting to advance another base. Following a pair of RedHawk hits, Martin Methodist tied the game at one with a single up the middle. 
 
Following four scoreless innings, the Patriots took control in the eighth. With one out, Katie Cheeseman was hit by a pitch to reach first base. That brought up Bryant, who worked the count full.  On the payoff pitch the freshman sent a missile over the wall in left field to give the Patriots a 3-1 lead. 
 
In the bottom of the eighth, a RedHawk player led off with a line drive that was snagged by a jumping Sickau. Chaney Dutton followed with a homerun to left field to cut the lead to 3-2.  Burgress settled down and recorded consecutive fly outs to close out the game and secure the victory for Cumberlands.
 
Game Two: Patriots win 2-1 (9 innings)
Unlike in game one, the RedHawks were the first on the board in game two. In the bottom of the second inning, the RedHawks were able to get a base runner on third. A single up the middle scored the runner and gave Martin Methodist their first lead of the series. 
 
The next four innings saw both teams fail to produce any runs as timely defense kept the score 1-0 in favor of Martin Methodist. In the top of the seventh inning, UC was down to their final three outs and needed a tying run. Madison Huber stepped into the batter's box and notched a strike into left-center field for a leadoff double. Three pitches later, Malone slapped the ball into right field for an RBI single that scored Huber from second. The Pats couldn't take the lead, but they ensured extra innings after Goedde went tallied a one, two, three bottom of the seventh. 
 
Following a scoreless eighth inning, Cumberlands seized the advantage in the ninth. Malone, who scored the winning run in game one, tallied a one-out single to left field. Malone was able to advance into scoring position after sacrifice bunt by Sarah West. The Patriots grabbed their first lead as Wood drilled an RBI doubled to left to score Malone and give UC a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Goedde secured the win for Cumberlands with a final out strikeout. 
 
The Patriots and the RedHawks will return to the field on Saturday March 13, for the final two games of a four-game set. Game one will begin at 1 PM with game two taking place at 3 PM. Live stats for those games can be found here, while live video can be found here. 
 
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