Georgetown, KY - After securing a win in the first game of the series on Friday evening, the Patriots battled to earn a split during their Saturday double-header against Georgetown. UC dropped the opening game of the day 3-2 but exploded for a 9-4 victory in game two. 
 
Jose Rojas ignited the offense in game two as the redshirt senior went 4-4 with two RBIs and scored a pair of runs. Candido Encarnacion went 5-8 over both games while recording an RBI and a run scored. Nathan Geissler improved to 6-1 on the season after he pitched six solid innings only giving up four runs while notching six strikeouts. 
 
The series at Georgetown was just the second road conference series of the season thus far for the Patriots. With their split on Saturday against Georgetown, Cumberlands moves to 26-5 on the season and 6-3 in Mid-South Conference play. UC also improves to 5-1 on the season in conference games away from Doyle Buhl Stadium. 
 
Game Two: Cumberlands wins, 9-4 
The Patriots got their offense cooking early in game two. In the first inning, Bryan Leef sparked the bats with a double down the right field line. On the next pitch, Rojas slapped a single to left to score Leef and give the Pats an early lead. Candido Encarnacion then singled to shallow right field to advance Rojas into scoring position. Back-to-back walks to Brian Garcia and Andres Rolon would score Rojas and have UC out to a 2-0 advantage. 
 
The lead was short lived. In the bottom of the first, the Tigers used a walk and a single to get runners in scoring position. Georgetown nodded the game at two with a single to deep left field. Cumberlands would get out of the inning thanks to a double play but not before the Tigers got a run across the plate to take a 3-2 lead after the first inning. 
 
UC quickly responded with runs in the second and third innings. In the top of the second, Ray Villanueva raked a single into shallow right field. Over Torres followed it up with a single of his own as he punched the ball through the hole at shortstop. Rojas stayed hot as he singled into left field to score the speedy Villanueva from second base and nod the game up at three. In the top of the third inning, Garcia led things off with a walk. An Andres Rolon single and a Mason Sawyer sac bunt game the Patriots runners on second and third. Kevin Rolon put the ball into play and grounded out to score Garcia from third. The pair of runs gave UC a 4-3 lead heading into the fourth. 
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Sawyer reached base on an infield base hit after he laid down a bunt. Kevin Rolon stepped into the batter's box and labeled a two-run homerun over the fence in left field to extend the Pats lead to 6-3. For Rolon, the homerun is his four of the season. 
 
Cumberlands kept their foot on the peddle in the sixth. Leef got the run started with a leadoff single past the shortstop and secured a stolen base to find himself on second. Rojas continued his great day at the plate as he singled to the infield to move Leef to third. Encarnacion stuck a double down the left field line to score Leef and move Rojas to third base. On the next pitch, Garcia hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field to score a tagging Rojas at third. Andres Rolon capped off the inning with a single through the hole at second to score Encarnacion and give UC the 9-3 lead. Georgetown added a run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough, the Patriots held on for a 9-4 win in game two.
 
In game one, neither team could plate a run through two innings. In the bottom of the third the Tigers used a single and a stolen base to get a runner in scoring position. A single to left would score a runner from third and give Georgetown the all-important first run.  
 
In the top of the fourth UC answered right back. Rojas reached base on a walk and used base hits from Encarnacion and Garcia to make his way to third base. Yariel Diaz drove a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score a tagging Rojas and tie the game at one. 
 
Georgetown grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff single, a bunt, and a stolen base quickly gave the Tigers an opportunity to take the lead. A Georgetown batter singled up the middle to give the Tigers a 2-1 advantage heading into the sixth. 
 
Down by one run in the eighth, UC needed a spark. Leef stepped into the box and sent an absolute rocket over the fence in left field to tie the game at two. The homerun was Leef's team-leading fifteenth homer of the campaign. UC wouldn't be able to take control as Georgetown plated a run of their own in the eighth to take game one, 3-2.
 
Up Next
Cumberlands will be back in action Wednesday March 31, as they head to Union College for a 2 PM start. 
 
UC will return home on Friday April 2, for a series of conference games against Pikeville. 
 
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