Athens, TN – The Patriots and the Bulldogs competed in their third game of the season. Back on February 15, at the UC Softball Complex, each team won a game, marking today's contest as the rubber match. In an offensive battle with 19 hits combined from the two teams, Tennessee Wesleyan won 9-7.

Maddie Sickau and Katie Cheeseman each rattled off a pair of hits and three RBI in the contest. For both hitters it marks the most RBI in a single game this season. The duo of Emily Jasper and Mackenzie Pawlak came across home plate, three times. Jasper also tallied two stolen bases to give her 31 on the season, two behind her season best.

UC pitched by committee in the contest with Kaiti White, Morgan Radford, and Kaci Goedde getting at least 1.2 innings of work. Radford led the team with three K's to give her 47 on the season.

Cumberlands got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, led off by a Jasper single and she was brought around two hitters later off a RBI single for Sickau. However, the Bulldogs answered back with three runs of their own off four hits to go up 3-1.

Then in the next half inning, the Patriots kept their offense going, notching their best offensive frame in the contest. A fielder's choice and an error got Pawlak and Jasper to second and third with two outs. Cheeseman stepped to the plate and floated the ball to left field, allowing both Pawlak and Jasper to score. Cheeseman was able to advance to third off an errant throw trying to get her out at second. Sickau then made it back-to-back singles to left field, scoring Cheeseman for the 4-3 UC lead.

TWU tied the game back up in the third inning off two hits and two walks with the bases loaded. With the bases still full of Bulldogs and just one out, Radford induced a groundout to Sickau that resulted in a 6-4-3 double play, limiting the damage.

The Patriots rallied back in the fourth inning for a pair of runs. Pawlak and Jasper once again got the offense going. Pawlak singled to left field and Jasper got a free pass for runners at second and first, bringing Cheeseman up. The Ontario, CA native got a bunt down and beat out the throw. It pushed Pawlak across for the run with Jasper getting to third. Sickau lunched the ball to right field for the sacrifice fly, racking up her third RBI on the day, making the score 6-4.

The Bulldogs would get a rally of their own, scoring five runs off three hits, three walks, and one error, pushing the score to 9-6.

In the sixth, Cumberlands earned their final run of the game. For the second time in the game, Pawlak started the offense for the Patriots, this time off a free pass. The next batter was Jasper who got on from an error that resulted in Pawlak being on third. When Jasper stole second, the pitcher recorded a wild pitch that allowed Pawlak to score, making the score 9-7.

Neither team added a run in their final at-bat marking the win for the Bulldogs. The loss drops UC to 23-11 on the season with a 12-7 non-conference record.

Cumberlands will return to MSC play when they travel to Thomas More for a four-game series. The first day will have a pair of games on Friday, April 1 starting at 2:30PM ET. Live video for the games can be found here with live stats here.

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