Williamsburg, KY - The Patriots were firing on all cylinders for day one of the Bear Creek Tournament, picking up two victories. With the tournament moving to the UC Softball Complex, Cumberlands has now won three straight games at home, outscoring opponents 15-7 in those games. For the first game the Patriots took down Huntington 10-3 and then shutout Lawrence Tech, 5-0.

Meryn Livingston led the potent offense with three hits and five RBI. Hailey Wood hit the first home run for the Patriots this season, with a three-run blast in game two. Both Kaiti White and Morgan Radford got the wins in the circle, with Talli Burgess closing out game one. They all combined for eight strikeouts and just nine hits against.

GAME ONE: CUMBERLANDS DEFEATS HUNTINGTON, 10-3
The Patriots got out to scoring early, putting up their first run in the first inning. A walk to Katie Cheeseman got her aboard as the first base runner for UC. Two batters later, Emily Bryant sent the ball to left field to score Cheeseman from first, for the 1-0 lead.

For the top of the second, the Patriots had a one, two, three inning capped by White's first strikeout of the game. However, the next inning proved to be big for the Foresters with three consecutive hits. A lead-off single followed by a double put runners in scoring position. The next batter sent the first pitch they saw over the left field fence to go up 3-1.

After another three up, three down inning for UC's defense ending with a White strikeout, the Patriots got their offense going. A leadoff single for Livingston followed up by a Radford walk got a pair of runners on. Taylor Green came on as a pinch runner for Livingston and she was moved over to third off a groundout. Sarah West, scored Green from a sacrifice fly to left field. Emily Jasper followed that up with an infield single to score Radford, making the game all even at 3-3.

The Pats followed that up with an even bigger fifth inning racking up four runs. Cheeseman led it off with a walk and she advanced to third off a double from Sickau. Livingston then traded places with Sickau, roping a ball to center field for a two RBI double. Mackenzie Pawlak added a single in the inning. Her and Livingston both scored off errors from Foresters to give UC the 7-3 lead.

Burgess entered the game in the sixth inning and struck out a batter, stranding two on base. Cumberlands added three more runs in the next half inning off two hits and a walk. Maddie Sickau and Bryant got on with a leadoff single and a walk respectively. With two runners on, Livingston once again came up clutch for UC, adding another two-run double, this time to right field. Livingston then scored off a groundout to extend the lead to 10-3.

The Patriots capped off the game with their third three up, three down inning in the top of the seventh inning to pick up their fourth win of the season.
 
GAME TWO: CUMBERLANDS SHUTS OUT LAWRENCE TECH, 5-0
The Blue Devils threatened in the first inning with two singles and a walk. The second single went to right field where Jenna Howell was patrolling. LTU sent their runner from second, home and Howell came up throwing. She gunned down the runner and Paxton Hoop applied the tag to keep the game 0-0.

UC went down in order in the first, but got their bats going in the second, for another four-run inning on the day. Bryant led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third off a double from Hoop, her first extra base hit as a Patriot. With runners at third and second, Radford helped her own cause in the circle with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Bryant. A walk to Howell put two runners on once again and put Wood to the plate. Wood got all of the ball, sending it to right field for an opposite field home run, marking the first player for UC to hit one this season. Wood's three-run home run extended the Patriots' lead to 4-0.

Continuing the trend of the day, Radford finished the third inning with a strikeout, her third of the game, that turned over to an offensive inning for UC. Cheeseman led off with her team best, third double of the season. She moved to second from a Sickau walk and ended up on third after Bryant's sacrifice bunt. With Livingston at the plate, she tallied her fifth RBI of the day, off a sacrifice fly to centerfield. This run gave UC the 5-0 lead, marking the last run of the game by either team.

Radford continued to keep the Blue Devils off balance, earning two more strikeouts in the fourth, giving her five in the game. She only gave up three more hits in the contest, limiting the Blue Devils to four in the seven-inning game.

The two wins mark three straight victories for UC, giving them a 5-2 record on the season. In both contests, the Patriots did not commit and error for their first error free games of the 2022 season.

Cumberlands will be back for day two of the Bear Creek Tournament with it moving back to Oneida, TN. They will face both Taylor and IU at South Bend at 1:30PM and 4PM respectively. No video will be provided, but live stats will be available here.

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