Williamsburg, KY – On a beautiful day in early February at Doyle Buhl Stadium, the 11^th ranked Patriots was able to notch a pair of wins against Cincinnati-Clermont, behind a huge day from Carlos Muniz, in the home opener. Game one ended with a score of 9-3, while game two ended 17-3.

In game one, Bryan Juarez got the start and the win after pitching 5.2 innings giving up three hits, one run, two walks, and one strikeout. Jared Shelton came in and pitched 1.1 innings allowing three hits, two runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Muniz went 4-4 with two homeruns, a double, and six RBIs. Sean Cheely also went 2-2 with two walks and two stolen bases.

The game started off with a Cougar homerun, to take the early lead. Muniz responded in the bottom of the 2^nd with a solo homer of his own, to even the score 1-1.

Next, in the bottom of the 3^rd, Sujel Arias and Candido Encarnacion got walked. Then Muniz would double down the left field line, that allowed Arias to score and give UC a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 5^th, Arias would get a double down the right field line. Then Muniz would get his second homer, this time to left center. That would give the Patriots a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 6^th, UC would get their offense going with a couple singles and walks to load the bases. With the bases loaded, the Pats would get four straight singles from Arias, Encarnacion, Muniz, and Daniel Maldonado all bringing in one run each to extend the lead to 9-1. The Cougars would get two runs in the top of the 7^th, but UC would come away with the 9-3 win.

In game two, Garrett DeClue would get the start and pitched 3.0 innings allowing three hits, two runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts. Caleb Plummer got an appearance and the win after pitching 2.0 innings allowing no hits, runs, or walks, with four strikeouts. Jackson Yazell also got his first appearance of the season and pitched 2.0 innings giving up one hit, one run, two walks and four strikeouts. Muniz continued his hot streak going 2-2 with a grand slam homer and four RBIs. Ray Villanueva and Arias also got their first home runs of the season. Villanueva went 2-4 with five RBIs.

The offense came early and often for the Patriots, as they scored in every inning. Starting with the bottom of the 1^st, getting five runs. UC would load the bases for Muniz and he didn't dissapoint. He would hit a bomb over the left field fence that scored four runs. Then after getting walked, Ryan Shavers would steal home, after a rundown diversion by Raphy Almanzar.

In the bottom of the 2^nd, Ernies Lozada would get a single, then steal second. He would advance to third on a passed ball. Villanueva would then bring him home, to get the 6-0 lead.

Next, in the bottom of the 3^rd, UC would get the bases loaded again and would bring in a run after Rhett Gipe got walked.

The bottom of the 4^th started with an Arias homer to left field. Cumberlands would then load the bases again. Gipe got walked once more to bring in another run to expand the lead, 9-2. Then Lozada would get walked, bringing in a run. With the bases still loaded, Villanueva would crush a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam of his own. UC took a 14-2 lead.

The Patriots would also bring in runs in both the 5^th and 6^th innings after getting the bases loaded, to get the 17-3 win.
 
Cumberlands move to 5-1 on the season and will host a four-game series against the University of Saint Francis this weekend starting Friday Feb 11 at 1 PM.

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