Lawrenceville, GA – After facing each other earlier this season, #17 Cumberlands and #14 Georgia Gwinnett played a doubleheader with each team taking a game. The Patriots won the first contest, 7-1, but then the Grizzlies took game two, 6-1.

On the season, UC won the series 2-1, outscoring the Grizzlies 13-7, including a 6-0 shutout back in February.

Emily Bryant blasted her team best fourth homer of the year, helping her get two RBI across the pair of games. Maddie Sickau also brought in two runs, in one of three doubles on the day UC had. Mackenzie Pawlak and Katie Cheeseman also recorded RBI, marking four different Pats to tally them.

For today's doubleheader, Kaiti White and Talli Burgess combined in game one, giving up just one run and four hits, with seven strikeouts. For game two, Morgan Radford and Kaci Goedde threw the seven innings, giving up just three earned runs. Goedde dealt her second most innings in a single game this season, going 4.2, not allowing a run and striking out a batter.

GAME ONE: PATRIOTS TAKE DOWN THE GRIZZLIES, 7-1
Cumberlands got their offense going quickly, putting up a run in the first frame. Emily Jasper got on from a walk and then stole second. Bryant sent the ball down the left field line, pushing across Jasper easily to give UC the 1-0 lead.

Through the first two innings on defense, White sent the Grizzlies down in order, forcing three groundouts, two fly outs and a strikeout.

Jasper was once again the catalyst for the offense, leading off the third inning with an infield single. Sickau was the next batter and she moved Jasper to second by getting on from an error. Bryant was looking to move them both from a sacrifice bunt, but the Grizzlies committed a throwing error, scoring Jasper, putting Sickua on third, and Bryant on first. With the 2-0 lead, Bryant swiped second, for her first stolen base of the season, moving two runners into scoring position. Katie Cheeseman followed it up with a hit back where the ball came from, scoring Sickau and bringing Bryant to third. UC could not score any more runs, but were up 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Grizzlies got the bases loaded off two hits and a UC error. This brought Burgess into the game with just one out. Burgess rose to the occasion and tallied back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning leaving GGC still scoreless.
The Grizzlies did get on the board in fifth frame off a walk and a double to make the score 3-1.

The Patriots got back to scoring in the sixth inning, putting up four runs off two hits and an error. Paxton Hoop led off with a walk and Radford came in to replace her. Tori Malone put down the sacrifice bunt, putting Radford on second. Pawlak made sure the bunt counted, hitting the ball to deep center field for the RBI double, her second two-bagger of the season. Hailey Wood was the next hitter and she sailed a ball to right center field that gave the Grizzlies trouble. They dropped the ball, allowing Pawlak to score and Wood to race around to third base. Jasper hit the ball in the infield and they tried to get Wood picked off at third, but she got back in time putting runners on the corners. Sickau then roped a ball to left center for a pair of RBI, extending the lead to 7-1.

In the final two innings of the game, Burgess got three more strikeouts and only allowed one runner on base to give UC the 7-1 win. The victory has Burgess' season record at 4-3 and she now has 50 K's on the year.

GAME TWO: GEORGIA GWINNETT DEFEATS CUMBERLANDS, 6-1
The Patriots looked like they were starting the final game just like the one before, getting two runners on with no outs. However, a double play and a fielder's choice eliminated the threat and left the game 0-0 for GGC's first time up.

In the bottom half of the first, Georgia Gwinnett recorded three runs off two hits and a pair of UC errors for the 3-0 lead. The second inning was more of the same, with the Grizzlies picking up three more runs off five hits, stretching their lead to 6-0. Goedde entered the game in the second inning and with two runners on, she got the final out of the inning from a strikeout, limiting the damage.

Goedde did not concede a run the rest of the game, recording a trio of three up, three down innings.

Cumberlands did push a run across in the game, coming in the fourth. Bryant led off the inning by launching the ball to left field, over the fence. The home run is the fourth of the season for the Cecilia, KY native, giving her 10 in her young career.

The homer was the only run for UC making the score, 6-1. The loss ends UC's three game win streak. With the split on the day, the Patriots are now 4-3 against top-25 opponents and they have now beaten the Grizzlies three of the last five times the two teams have squared off in both 2021 and 2022.

UC will get back to Mid-South Conference action on Friday, March 25 when they begin their series against Shawnee State, at home. The first game is slated for a 4PM start with live video found here and live stats here.

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