Williamsburg, KY – The #13 UC softball team welcomed #3 Freed-Hardeman for the first two games of their Mid-South Conference series. The Lions had the lead in both games, but Cumberlands mounted comebacks in both contests to guarantee the series win over FHU. The Patriots took game one, 4-1 and then surged in game two for the 8-2 win.  
 
Talli Burgess came into relief in both games and picked up both wins to improve to 10-0 on the season. Burgess combined for 6.0 innings of work across the two games, striking out seven, giving up just two hits and no runs. Kaiti White got the start in game one, going 3.1 innings, limiting the Lions to four hits and one run, while striking out three. Morgan Radford got the start in game two and went 4.2 innings, giving up two runs and two hits, while striking out a pair. 
 
Offensively, Carly Oliver led all hitters with a trio of hits, all for extra bases with two doubles and a home run. Oliver along with Emily Bryant also rattled off three RBI. Maddie Sickau recorded two RBI on the day and joined Oliver with a home run. Mackenzie Pawlak, Makenzie Keatts, Hailey Wood and Bailey Turnbow all recorded two hits helping the Pats to have 15 across the pair of games. 
 
PATRIOTS DEFEAT THE LIONS, 4-1 
White started off strong against FHU, striking out the first batter swinging and then following it up with a strikeout looking to the next batter. The Lions did record a solo home run to take the 1-0 lead in the first. 
 
The UC offense also wasted no time, getting both Wood and Oliver on from a walk and hit by pitch respectively. They had the double steal on and they both advanced to now be in scoring position. Bryant stepped to the plate and read the situation, squaring around for the squeeze bunt. She pushed her bat out and Wood came from third not even needing to slide at home for the 1-1 tie game.  
 
Cumberlands got a three up, three down defensive frame in the second and then White got her third strikeout in the next inning before turning it over to her offense. Oliver ignited the offense with a leadoff double and then took third on a stolen base. With two outs on the board, Sickau made sure to not leave Oliver stranded on the bases. The Anderson County, TN native launched the ball over the left field wall for the two-run home run, her third homer of the season. It gave UC the 3-1 lead and the team never looked back the rest of the game.  
 
The Lions got some offense of their own in the fourth with back-to-back singles and just one out. This brought out Burgess into the circle. She got the first batter she faced to fly out to Keatts in left. Then the Crandall, GA native got the batter down on strikes to leave both runners on base.  
 
In the fifth, it was once again Oliver to lead things off and this time she blasted the ball to dead center for the solo home run, pushing the lead to 4-1. 
 
Burgess was cruising in the circle, putting down the first 10 batters she faced in order. It was not until the seventh inning with two outs, that the Lions got a runner on against Burgess. But the next batter flew out to right field for the 4-1 Patriots victory. 
 
BIG INNING FOR CUMBERLANDS BEATS THE LIONS, 8-2 
The Lions once again got on the board in the first inning to take the early lead. This time a leadoff walk, two stolen bases and a sac fly put Freed-Hardeman up 1-0. Cumberlands loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but left with no runs to their name. 
 
FHU got a runner to third in the second inning, but Radford struckout the final batter to leave her on the bases. Radford had a no-hitter going though 4.1 innings and got her second strikeout in the fifth. However, a solo home run followed by a single, brought Burgess into the contest. During the first batter Burgess faced, the Lions' base runner was called for leaving early on a stolen base. But the home run from earlier in the inning made the score 2-0 in favor of the Lions. 
 
Cumberlands continued to get runners on base throughout the game. They stranded six runners, before they exploded for an eight-run fifth inning. UC recorded seven hits in the frame, starting with a leadoff single up the middle from Wood. Oliver then sailed the ball to left center, scoring Wood for the RBI double and getting UC on the board. Keatts kept the rally going with a single of her own to left field to put runners at the corners. Once again, Bryant read the situation and executed the squeeze bunt, scoring Oliver easily to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later, Turnbow singled to left center to load the bases for Pawlak. An inside pitch hit Pawlak in the leg, putting her on first and giving Cumberlands their first lead in the game. Now with two outs in the inning, Radford stepped into the batter's box, singling to right field to scored Bryant and keep the bases loaded. Wood rattled off her second single of the frame, scoring Turnbow and keeping the offense going. Three straight walks to Oliver, Keatts, and Sickau put three more runs on the board to make it an 8-2 Cumberlands lead. 
 
Over the next two innings, the Lions only got one more baserunner on and Burgess fanned three more hitters to lock up her tenth win and the team's tenth straight victory on the season. 
 
The eight runs that UC put up in the second game is the most Freed-Hardeman has allowed since May 19, 2021, in the NAIA Opening Round. It also marked the last time FHU was defeated twice on the same day by the same team.  
 
The two victories secured the MSC series win, marking the first time since April 12, 2021 that the Lions have lost a Mid-South series. 
 
UC and FHU will finish out their three-game series, tomorrow, Sunday, March 19 at the UC Softball Complex. The game is slated for a 1PM ET first pitch.

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