Pikeville, KY– Patriots brought out their brooms as they swept the day and the series against Pikeville this weekend. UC took the first game 8-5, then turned around and won the second game 16-12 to move them to 31-14 on the season.
Game One
Braxton Cottongame started the day on the mound, he pitched 6.2 innings allowing six hits, five runs only three were earned, six walks, and four strikeouts. Cottongame would get credited for the win moving his record to 6-3, and
Chipper Korbacher came in to get the last out for the save.
Sujel Arias continued having a hot bat as he went 3-4 and notched his second homerun of the weekend.
Andres Rolon also had a good day going 2-3 with two RBIs and a stolen base.
After a slow start to the game the Patriots got on the board first as
Sujel Arias led off the fourth with a solo homerun over the left field fence for the 1-0 lead. Later in the fifth, the Patriots tallied two more runs.
Andres Rolon singled to left field to leadoff the inning. Rolon advanced to second after a groundout and
Sean Cheely got walked.
Raphy Almanzar stepped up and notched an RBI single for the 2-0 lead.
Charlie Muniz then hit a sacrifice fly allowing Cheely to score for the 3-0 lead.
Pikeville rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. UC answered with a five-run rally in the top of the sixth to regain the lead.
Ray Villanueva singled up the middle then stole second to start the inning.
Seth Benner followed with a single to left field, while Villanueva advanced to third.
Kevin Perez replaced Benner at first. Then after a pitching change,
Candido Encarnacion reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw. Villanueva scored on the play for the 4-3 lead. Rolon followed with a two RBI single to left field, to give UC a 6-3 lead. After one out, Cheely reached on a fielder's choice, as Rolon went home to score. Two batters later, Muniz singled down the left field line for an RBI, this gave UC the 8-3 lead.
The Bears were able to put up two runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Patriots lead to 8-5 but was not able to get any closer. This win put UC up 2-0 for the series.
Game Two
Thomas Gutierrez got the final start of the weekend as he pitched 6.1 innings allowing seven hits for seven runs, only six were earned and three strikeouts. He got credited with the win moving his record to 7-1. Korbacher,
Jared Shelton,
Caleb Plummer, and
Bryan Juarez would also get appearances as well.
Offensively, Cheely led the way going 5-6 at the plate, with a double and three stolen bases. Almanzar also had a good day going 4-5 with a double and seven RBIs.
Cheely got the game started with a first pitch leadoff single to left field, then stole second in the next few pitches. Almanzar followed with a double that hit off the right field fence for an RBI, as Cheely went home.
After a scoreless second inning, the Patriots brought home two runs to increase the lead to 3-0.
Luis Alvarez started the inning by getting walked, Cheely followed with a double and Alvarez went to third. Almanzar then notched two RBIs as he singled through the right side, this gave UC the 3-0 lead.
Pikeville was able to put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and UC answered with two runs of their own in their next at-bat. Cheely hit a single towards the pitcher, on the next pitch he stole second and advanced to third on the throw. A sacrifice fly by Almanzar would send Cheely home to score a run. Two batters later, Arias singled through the left side, then Villanueva doubled to right center and advanced to third on the throw. Villanueva got credit for an RBI as Arias went home for the 5-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth the Bears rallied to tie the game at 5-5. Patriots came back with a five-run rally to regain the lead. Encarnacion singled through the right side to start the inning, then stole second a few plays later. Alvarez tallied a walk, and Cheely notched an RBI single through the left side to regain the lead. Almanzar reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on the throw home. Both Cheely and Alvarez scored on an error during that play. Muniz followed with a double to right field, as Almanzar came home to score. Arias then stepped to the plate and hit an RBI double to left center allowing Muniz to score and giving the Patriots the 10-5 lead.
In the top of the seventh the Patriots tacked on two more runs to push the lead to 12-5. A double from Alvarez led off the inning. Cheely then notched his fifth hit of the game with a single to right field. Cheely would then steal second and advance to third. Cheely was able to reach home after Almanzar singled to left field. Two batters later, Arias hit a single and Almanzar advanced to third. Villanueva notched his second RBI of the game as he singled to right center and Almanzar went home for the 12-5 lead
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Pikeville scored four runs to cut the gap to 12-9. Cumberlands responded with another two runs as
Clay Shelton got walked and Perez came into courtesy run. Alvarez hit a double down the right field line and Perez went to third. Two batters later, Almanzar notched a two RBI double down the right field line to make the score 14-9.
The ninth inning started with a Villanueva double. He would advance to third on a wild pitch, then score on a wild pitch as Encarnacion got walked.
Ernies Lozada came into run for Encarnacion, and he would advance to second on a ground out. Alvarez then reached on an error, and the error also allowed Lozada to score for the 16-9 lead.
Pikeville scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning but came up short 16-12.
Cumberlands will look to continue their win streak as they go to Midway for a double header on Tuesday April 19. The games are set to start at 2 pm.
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