Lawrenceville, GA – For the final game of the Grizzly Open, Cumberlands had to take on #11 Georgia Gwinnett and the team rose to the occasion. The Patriots won in commanding fashion, 6-0 for their second shutout of the season. The win marks the 100^th career win for Head Coach Bailey Dillender and Assistant Coach Alyssa Richards. The two accomplished the feat in just over four seasons.

"This win speaks volumes on what Rich (Alyssa Richard) and I were able to build here," said Coach Dillender. "It makes it even more special that we've shared all 100 of the wins together. It's a true testament to our players and them buying into our vision a few years ago."

All 100 of Coach Dillender's wins as a head coach have came at UC alongside Coach Richards.

"I am excited about the win today and how well we played," said Coach Richards. "Mo (Morgan Radford) pitched a great game and it was a complete team win. The 100 wins is credited to the players and them buying into what Bailey and I wanted to do when we got here."

In her first appearance as a Patriot, Morgan Radford pitched a gem. She went seven innings, giving up just four hits and zero runs. She fanned four batters and walked four while throwing just 96 pitches.

The offense was well balanced with six different hitters earning eight hits. Both Emily Bryant and Emily Jasper tallied a pair of hits and scored each. Katie Cheeseman, Maddie Sickau, Meryn Livingston, and Mackenzie Pawlak each recorded a hit in the contest as well.

The Grizzlies got runners on in both the first and the second inning, but could not get any of them across to score. The momentum then switched in favor of the Patriots who took the lead in the third inning.

Jasper started it off with an infield single and then stole second base. Hailey Wood was the next batter and got on via a walk. The Grizzlies tried to pick off Jasper at second, but she took off for third putting runners on the corners. With speed on the bases the double steal was on, Wood swiping second and Jasper taking home. The two steals for Jasper gives her four on the season. Cheeseman took advantage of Wood on second, sending a ball through the right side to score Wood for the 2-0 UC lead.

In the bottom half of the third, Georgia Gwinnett had a runner on first base, looking to find their answer. A ball back to Radford in the circle prompted a 1-6-3 double play, eliminating the threat and keeping the 2-0 advantage.

Neither team got a run in the fourth or fifth frame, but Radford recorded her first strikeout as a Patriot in the fourth inning to end the side. She then did the same in the fifth inning when the Grizzlies had a pair of runners on.

UC piled on the runs in the final two innings, started by a leadoff single by Bryant. A single by Pawlak got her to third. Radford then helped herself out sending a ball deep enough to left field allowing Bryant to score and Pawlak to advance to second. An error from the Grizzlies prompted Pawlak to score for the 4-0 Patriots lead.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Radford recorded her third straight inning of retiring the final batter with a strikeout.

For the seventh inning, Cumberlands continued to push the game out of reach. A series of errors by the Grizzlies and a single from Sickau added a run to UC's total. Livingston followed it up with a single up the middle to bring home Sickau for the final run of the game making it 6-0.

Georgia Gwinnett went down in order including another strikeout for Radford. The win puts UC at 2-1 on the season and drops the Grizzlies to 3-3.

The Patriots will have their home opener on Tuesday, February 15 when they host Tennessee Wesleyan in a doubleheader. Game one is slated for 3PM with live video provided by the UC Sports Network found here.

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