Columbus, GA – On the final day of the NFCA Leadoff, the Patriots had one of their best days at the plate on the season. #22 UC downed (RV) IndianaU Southeast 10-4, marking their third double digit run game of the season.

Cumberlands tied for their third most hits as a team on the season with 11. Emily Jasper, Katie Cheeseman, Maddie Sickau, Hailey Wood and Tori Malone all tallied two hits in the contest with Meryn Livingston getting one. Wood and Emily Bryant led the team with a pair of RBI each. For Wood her two RBI came from her second home run of the season.

Talli Burgess and Morgan Radford combined for UC in the circle, limiting the Grenadiers to just seven hits and four earned runs. Radford was credited with the win, giving her a 3-2 record on the season.

Burgess started strong in the circle, working the first two innings as three up, three down frames. The UC offense used the momentum to get on the scoreboard with their first plate appearances of the game. Jasper set the table with a leadoff single and then stole second. Cheeseman hit the ball through the right side, allowing the speedy Jasper to score. Sickau followed that up with the third single in a row, putting Cheeseman on second. To push the two runners into scoring position, Paxton Hoop laid down the perfect sacrifice bunt. Livingston wasted no time as the next batter, bringing around Cheeseman and moving Sickau to third. Bryant got her first RBI of the game, hitting the ball to the shortstop that was deep enough to score Sickau for the 3-0 advantage.

The Grenadiers fought back to tie the game up in the third inning, 3-3. They earned a walk and four hits including a double to right center to bring the game even.

 After a one, two, three inning by UC's offense, IUSE pushed across another run in the top of the fourth for the lead. With a runner on first from a single, Radford entered the game. Radford struckout the second batter she faced to have two outs in the inning. However, IU Southeast sent a ball to left center for the RBI double to give them the 4-3 lead.

Cumberlands wasted no time in a response of their own, tying the game back up in the bottom of the fourth. Wood started the inning with an infield single and then stole second. A groundout by Malone pushed her to third. Then Mackenzie Pawlak earned the RBI with a groundout to the shortstop, that saw Wood take off for home and score easily.

With the 4-4 tie and the momentum in favor of UC, they had another, three up, three down inning on defense and then an offensive explosion in the bottom of the fifth. Cheeseman roped her second triple of the season to left center, starting the inning off with a bang. Sickau sliced a ball to right field allowing Cheeseman to score easily and giving UC the lead once again. Two batters later with two on, Bryant put down the squeeze bunt and the Grenadier defense could not get anyone out on the play off an error. The aggressive base running from the Patriots paid off as both of the base runners scored and Bryant was standing on third base with a 7-4 UC advantage. Wood made sure Bryant scored, sending a no doubt-home run to center field, for her team best second homer of the season.

The Patriots took the 9-4 lead into the sixth inning and once again got the job done defensively, not allowing any hits or runs to score in the frame.

In the bottom of the sixth, UC tacked on another run. With Hoop at third from a hit by pitch and then a wild pitch and an error, Malone stepped into the box where she skipped a ball past the shortstop and third baseman to score Hoop for the RBI and the 10-4 Pats lead.

Now in the top of the seventh, IUSE got two runners on, but they were stranded giving UC their 11^th win of the season for an 11-5 overall record and 2-3 record at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. In the contest UC recorded no errors for flawless defense.

For her efforts in this game and her other two appearances, Radford was named to the All-Tournament team. She had a weekend ERA of 0.88 in 16 innings pitched. She struckout 12 while giving up 12 hits and only two earned runs.

On the weekend, Bryant led the team in RBI with three, followed by Cheeseman and Wood who each had two. In the five games, Cheeseman led the team in batting average with .417 followed by Sickau with .357.

The Patriots will now turn their attention to #23 Lindsey Wilson as they start Mid-South Conference play on Wednesday, March 2 in Columbia, KY. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at 3PM ET. Live video for the game is available here and live stats here.