Williamsburg, KY – After nine games on the road, the 13th ranked UC softball team returned in front of their home crowd and had a tight battle with #18 Tennessee Wesleyan. Elite pitching was on display, but the Pats offense prevailed, putting up three runs and not allowing any from the Bulldogs. The 3-0 victory, is the eighth shutout of the season for Cumberlands and their second over a top-25 team.
Talli Burgess and Kaiti White combined for the win in the circle. For Burgess she got the start and improves to 8-0 on the season. She struckout the second most batters in a single game this season with seven in 5.1 innings pitched. White came on in the sixth and gave up just one hit to earn her first save of the season.
Offensively, both Maddie Sickau and Emily Bryant got a RBI in the game and Hailey Wood scored twice with Carly Oliver scoring as well.
Burgess began the game with a pair of strikeouts, putting down the Bulldogs in order. Then in the bottom of the first, UC got on the board. Back-to-back walks to Wood and Oliver put two runners on. Next, the pair completed the double steal to both be in scoring position. Bryant saw the opportunity and put down the squeeze bunt. Wood raced home and scored easily to give UC the 1-0 lead.
Both teams were limited with base runners and hits through the next few innings. The Bulldogs did get a runner on from a single in the fourth inning. However, the next batter hit the ball to Bryant who turned the 5-4-3 double play with Oliver and Bailey Turnbow to erase the base runner.
It was all Burgess in the fifth inning, getting the groundout herself and then striking out a pair of batters looking to make it a three up, three down frame. The Pats carried the momentum into the bottom half of the inning. Wood led off with a single and stole her third base of the game to get on second. Later in the inning, the bases got loaded for Sickau. The Tennessee Wesleyan pitcher threw a wild pitch, allowing Wood to score. Then in the same at-bat, Sickau launched the ball to deep centerfield for the sacrifice fly, scoring Oliver for the 3-0 advantage.
In the top of the sixth, Burgess got a batter down on strikes, but two hits in the inning put two runners on with the tying run at the plate. White entered the game and got the next two batters out to keep the shutout and the lead going.
The Bulldogs did get a hit in the seventh, but a groundout to Bryant was the final out of the game giving Cumberlands their eighth straight win on the season. The team is now 22-2 on the year and will return to Mid-South Conference play for their next games.
Cumberlands will host #3 Freed-Hardeman for a three-game series, starting Saturday, March 18. The first pitch is slated for 1PM with the second game to follow.
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