McKenzie, TN – 17^th ranked Pats split a pair against the Wildcats but wins the series 2-1. The first game had UC winning 4-3. Then after a late comeback attempt that fell short Cumberlands would fall 10-9, moving their record to 18-10 on the season.

Game One

In the first game of the day's doubleheader Thomas Gutierrez got the nod to start and pitched his second complete game of the season. He allowed two earned runs on six hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. This marks the fifth win of the season for him. Candido Encarnacion led the way as he went 2-4 with his first home run of the season, three RBIs, and a stolen base. Charlie Muniz also went 2-4 with one of his hits being a double.

The runs started early for the Pats scoring three runs in the first inning. With two outs, Muniz got it started as he doubled in his first at bat. Kevin Perez would come into courtesy run for Muniz. Sujel Arias then got walked. With two outs and two on base, Encarnacion stepped up and hit a three-run bomb to take a 3-0 lead.

The Wildcats was able to respond and tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third. The Pats went ahead as they scored the last run of the game in the top of the sixth. With two outs Luis Alvarez hit a double. Sean Cheely followed as he reached first on a throwing error. Alvarez advanced to third on the play. A few pitches later, Cheely stole second and as the catcher was throwing the ball to second, Alverez went home for the 4-3 lead that would hold the rest of the game.

Game Two

Walter Hernandez got the last start of the weekend as the Patriots threw six arms. Hernandez pitched 3.2 innings giving up five hits, two runs, two walks and one strikeout. Chipper Korbacher came in and pitched the second most innings at 2.1, as he allowed six hits, three runs, one walk and two strikeouts. He also got the lost.
Offensively the Pats had three hitters, Cheely, Muniz, and Seth Benner go 2-5 at the plate. Both Cheely and Muniz hit doubles.

In this game the offense came late, as Bethel scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. UC responded with three runs in the top of the fifth. It got started for UC with a one out single from Benner. Then both Alvarez and Clay Shelton got hit by a pitch to fill the bases. Then Cheely came up and hit a two RBI double to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later Perez who came into courtesy run for Shelton came home to score for the 3-2 lead.

The Wildcats regained the lead in their next at bat for the 6-3 lead. Then in the top of the seven the Pats closed the gap as they scored two runs. It all started with a single from Alvarez. Daniel Maldonado who came in to pinch hit for Shelton, hit a single. Maldonado would then steal second a few pitches later, while Alvarez stole home. With the score 6-4, Raphy Almanzar grounded out but got an RBI as Maldonado scored.

After Bethel extended their lead to 10-5, UC would have one chance to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Frank Garcia pinched hit for Shelton and got walked. Cheely then singled and Garcia advanced to second. Two batters later with one out, Arias hit an RBI single bringing home Garcia, and then Cheely came around to score on the same play after a Bethel error. With the score 10-7, Encarnacion got walked which filled the bases. A few pitches later Ray Villanueva flew out to center field, but he got an RBI as Almanzar tagged up and went home for the 10-8 score. Now with two outs, Benner hit an RBI single bringing Arias home. With two outs and the score 10-9, UC had the tying run on second and the go ahead run on first. Bethel went on to close the door on the comeback with a strikeout too end the game at 10-9.

With the Patriots ending the week 4-1, they look forward to another big week with Midway coming to town for a double header on Tuesday starting at 2 pm. Then fifth ranked Georgia Gwinnett and RV Point Park comes to town for an action packed weekend in Williamsburg.

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