Williamsburg, KY- The #24 Cumberlands softball team dominated their opponents on the final day of the Bear Creek Tournament to pick up two wins. The Patriots first defeated (RV) Rio Grande, 4-2 and then beat IU South Bend, 8-1.

The offense exploded for 16 hits, including four home runs, a triple and a double. Mackenzie Pawlak led all of the hitters with four hits, two for extra bases. Pawlak along with Bailey Turnbow, Carly Oliver and Makenzie Keatts all earned home runs in the pair of games. UC was also a perfect 6-6 on stolen bases, led by Hailey Wood who swiped three.

Once again it was the pitching staff who got it done in the circle. Morgan Radford started game one, giving up just two runs off two hits. Then Kaiti White came in for relief, limiting the Red Storm to just three hits across four innings. Talli Burgess started the second game, going five innings and striking out eight batters. Those eight Ks are a season high and one behind her career best of nine in a single contest. Lindsey Shope closed out the final two innings, surrendering just one hit and no runs.
 
GAME ONE: CUMBERLANDS DEFEATS (RV) RIO GRANDE, 4-2
Radford came out of the gates strong, getting the first three batters for Rio Grande down in order and then the UC offense came out just as strong in the bottom half of the inning. Wood led off with a walk and stole second. Two batters later, Keatts battled through an at-bat and sent a high pitch sailing over the left field wall for her second home run of the season, making the score 2-0.

Another three up, three down inning in the second translated to runs for UC. With one out, Pawlak drove the ball to left center over the wall for her first home run of the season.

Now with the score at 3-0, Radford got three straight batters out, starting with a strikeout in the third. Then in the fourth, the Red Storm got some offense going, earning a pair of singles and a walk to score a run. This brought White into the game where just one more run scored to make the it a 3-2 ballgame.

The one-run game did not last long, with the Patriots answering in the bottom of the fourth. Maddie Sickau earned a lead off walk and stole second. Turnbow followed it up with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Pawlak kept the hot bat and sliced a ball down the left field line scoring Sickau to make it a two-run game.

The Red Storm only got one more runner on base the rest of the game and could not get her past second base. This gave the 4-2 win for UC, marking their first win against an opponent mentioned in the NAIA Coaches' Poll this season.
 
GAME TWO: PATRIOTS TAKEDOWN TITANS, 8-1
Burgess started the game striking out the first batter and ended the frame in the same fashion with a runner on second base. Then in the second, the Titans scored a run and had another one waiting on second, but a popout and strikeout from Burgess limited the damage at a 1-0 lead for IU South Bend.

Sickau got UC going in the bottom half with a lead off single past the shortstop. Turnbow stepped to the plate next and swung at the first pitch she saw. The Cookeville, TN hit a hard ball to left field that cleared the fence in a hurry to make it 2-1 in favor of Cumberlands. This marks the first home run of her collegiate career. But the offense did not stop there. Just three pitches later, Pawlak roped a ball down the left field line and then used her speed to get around the bases and slide in for the triple. Two batters later the squeeze bunt was on with Paxton Hoop and once again Pawlak was too fast, scoring without sliding and Hoop was safe at first. In the same inning, Wood got on from a fielder's choice and Oliver brought her around with the opposite field home run, pushing the lead to four runs at 5-1.

Over the next two innings, Burgess got two more strikeouts and just one runner on and then UC got themselves back on the scoreboard. Once again Pawlak came to the plate and earned a hit, sending a single to left field. She was moved to second and then stole third safely. On the throw to try and get Pawlak out, the ball rolled into the dugout allowing the Georgetown, KY native to score. A single to Wood and a walk to Oliver put two runners on. They were both moved up a base from a wild pitch, then Keatts cleared them both off the bases with a two RBI double to make the lead 8-1.

The top of the fifth inning was all Burgess. She struck out three batters, one of them swinging and two looking in what would be her final inning of the contest. Shope came in at the top of the sixth inning. She gave up a single to the first batter but then a ball hit to Turnbow issued the 3-6 double play to negate the runners.

The bottom of the sixth saw first career hits for two UC players. Kaysee Dale slapped a ball to right center for the single. Marianne Beliveau then singled to right center as well to put runners at the corners. UC was not able to push the run across meaning a seventh inning had to be played. Shope issued three groundouts to Sickau at shortstop to end the game at 8-1.

Over the course of the Bear Creek Tournament, UC went 4-1 and outscored opponents 26-9. Cumberlands batted .323 as a team while the pitchers limited opposing batters to just a .189 average. Of the Patriots' 43 hits, 16 of them were extra base hits including five home runs.

Pawlak led the hitters with eight hits, scoring five times herself and picking up two RBI. Keatts recorded seven hits with six RBI and three runs scored.

In the circle, UC had a combined ERA of 1.80 and just 24 hits against. Of the 24 hits, only seven were for extra bases, with zero triples or home runs.

Cumberlands will stay at home for their next game against Union on February 22. It will be a single game on Wednesday at 3PM ET for the first pitch.
 
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