Williamsburg, KY – To open the series against Pikeville, #21 Cumberlands swept the pair of games winning 3-0 and 4-2. This marks five straight wins for the Patriots where they have outscored teams 29-14.
Kaiti White went the distance in game one to shutout the Bears. She gave up no runs and no free bases and limited Pikeville to a pair of hits in seven innings. Game two saw
Talli Burgess go 6.2 innings giving up just one run and striking out four hitters.
UC had 15 hits on the day, led by
Emily Bryant who had a trio of hits and two RBIs. Four Patriots hitters had multi-hit days with
Emily Jasper who also scored twice,
Meryn Livingston, along with
Katie Cheeseman and
Tori Malone who each had a double.
The wins helped celebrate senior
Madison Huber who was honored before the game, as the lone four-year player on the roster. Huber recorded a key RBI in game one and had three putouts from center field.
GAME ONE: CUMBERLANDS BLANKS PIKEVILLE, 3-0
Six times in the game, White had three-up three down innings. White kept Pikeville guessing, causing 22 of their hitters to retire from fly balls. Her pitching in the circle helped spark the UC bats since all of their runs came after the side was retired in order from the previous top frame.
The Patriots tallied three, one run innings, spreading out their offense. Jasper led things off in the third inning with a single and then stole second to move into scoring position. Cheeseman laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Jasper to third, followed by
Maddie Sickau putting the ball in play to give UC the 1-0 advantage.
Once again, a leadoff single jumpstarted UC's offense, this time coming off the bat of Malone in the fifth.
Taylor Green came on as a pinch runner and utilized her speed to advance to second and third.
Hailey Wood had a deep ball into foul territory by the left field foul line that allowed Green to double the lead for the Patriots.
Wanting to ensure the win, UC added a run in the bottom of the sixth. Keeping the trend going, Bryant had a lead off single to left field. Bryant got to second on an errant throw, putting Huber to the plate. She roped a ball to left field that rolled far enough to let Bryant score from second and push the score to 3-0. Patriots ended the game retiring the side in order for the win.
GAME TWO: PATRIOTS DEFEAT THE BEARS, 4-2
Burgess did well in the circle, recording three innings of three up, three down defense. The freshman went four innings without conceding a hit and striking out four in the meantime.
The Bears had an error in the bottom of the third that allowed Jasper to get on base. UC made it count, Cheeseman recorded a single to push Jasper to third. Bryant hit a ball to center field that moved Jasper and Cheeseman all the way around for a 2-0 advantage.
The bottom of the fifth inning, saw similar offense from the Pats, who doubled their lead. Livingston had a line drive single to center. Green came in to pinch run and was scored in the very next at-bat from Malone's double to center field. Looking to trade places with Malone and off a two-out rally,
Sarah West hit a ball to right field to give her an RBI double making the score 4-0.
Pikeville did mount a comeback in the seventh inning scoring two runs off three hits and a walk. With the bases loaded, the UC defense put a stop to the Bears with a 6-4-3 double play, ending the game at 4-2.
The Patriots will look to finish the series with their final two home games of the regular season against Pikeville on Saturday, April 16. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 PM. Live stats can be found
here and live video on the UCSN can be found
here.
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