Williamsburg, KY – To open Mid-South Conference play, the 24^th ranked UC softball team swept the Cumberland Phoenix. After taking the first game, 4-1 yesterday, the Pats won both games today 8-0 (5 innings) and 3-1 to improve to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in MSC play.

The offense came out swinging today for Cumberlands, racking up 15 hits and scoring 11 runs. Carly Oliver, Bailey Turnbow, Meryn Livingston, Maddie Sickau, Makenzie Keatts and Hailey Wood all had a pair of hits on the day. Wood led the team with three RBI while Oliver and Turnbow each had two.

In the circle, the trio of Morgan Radford, Talli Burgess and Kaiti White left the Phoenix hitters guessing. Combined they struck out 17 batters and gave up just one run. Radford picked up her second complete game shutout of the season. Radford struckout her season best, seven and only gave up four hits. White started the final game of the series and went 3.0 innings, striking out two and giving up one run off five hits. Burgess then came in for relief to earn her fourth win of the season. Burgess tied her season best of eight Ks and limited CU to three hits in 4.0 innings of work.
 
GAME TWO: PATRIOTS RUN-RULE PHOENIX, 8-0
 Radford began the game, striking out the side and then earned a strikeout against the final batter in the second inning. She turned the ball over to her offense in the next half inning who got going in a hurry. Sickau sent her first hit of the day through the 5-6 hole. Next came Turnbow, who on a 2-2 count drove the ball to center field for her second homer of the season. She scored Sickau to put the Pats up 2-0 and the team never looked back.

In the bottom of the fourth, Turnbow led the inning off with a walk and two batters later, Livingston sent the ball down the left field line to put runners at second and first. Paxton Hoop followed it up with a driven ball to right center field for the RBI single and putting runners at the corners. Taylor Green came in to run for Hoop and she was moved to second off a hit from Wood to right center that scored Livingston. Oliver kept the inning going with deep ball to right center field scoring Green and putting Wood at third. Makenzie Keatts followed it up with a ball to the shortstop, allowing Wood to score to make the score 6-0.

Radford struckout two more in the fifth inning and then her offense once again took over in the fifth inning to put the game away. Emily Bryant hit a ball to left field to kickstart the inning. Sickau executed the sacrifice bunt moving Bryant from first to third with one out. Turnbow came up next and hit the ball to the shortstop. Bryant took off for home, but the Phoenix throw to the plate forced her into a rundown. She dove safely back to third and then saw the there was no one covering home and she took off sliding safely and Turnbow took advantage speeding all the way to third base. With Turnbow on third, Mackenzie Pawlak put down the perfect squeeze bunt for the walk off win, allowing Turnbow to score easily for the 8-0 run-rule.

It marked the fourth run-rule win of the season for UC and the team's sixth shutout of the season.
 
GAME THREE: PATS RALLY BACK TO WIN, 3-1
In similar fashion to the first game on the day, White sent down the first batter she faced with a strikeout. She added another strikeout in the second. But then in the third inning the Phoenix had two hits and a sac bunt to take the 1-0 lead.

Burgess entered the game in the fourth, with one on. She struckout the second batter she faced and then ended the inning with a strikeout.

Cumberlands answered back in the fourth inning, starting off with an Oliver double to left field. Keatts was next up and laced the ball down the left field line to score Olvier and tie the game at 1-1.

Again, Burgess struckout two in the fifth and the bats got going for UC. Turnbow was walked to being the inning and then Pawlak laid down the bunt, getting on base and advancing Turnbow. Two batters later, Wood sailed the ball to left field clearing the bases, scoring both Turnbow and Pawlak for UC's first lead of the game at 3-1.

No more runs were scored by either team, but Burgess struckout the side in the sixth and recorded the final out as a strikeout for eighth in the game.

In the series, the Patriots outscored the Phoenix 15-2 and recorded six extra base hits. UC's team batting average was .308 while CU was held to .221. The UC pitchers struckout the CU batters 21 times.

The series ends the teams 14 games to start the season and they will now embark on a nine game road trip. UC will next travel for the Gulf Shore Classic, where they will take on both Louisiana State Alexandria and #16 Columbia College on March 3. The first game is scheduled for a 1:30PM ET start.
 
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