Midway, KY- The #3 UC Patriots softball team traveled to face Midway University for the team's first midweek series in two weeks. Cumberlands dropped game one, 6-2, but then battled back in game two for the 14-4 run-rule victory in five innings.
The offense was led by Makenzie Keatts who accrued five hits across the pair of games and driving in four runs off three extra base hits. Bailey Turnbow and Mackenzie Pawlak both had four hits each and combined for three doubles in the games as well as five RBI. Maddie Sickau also tallied three RBI off a trio of hits. As a team, the UC offense did not strike out once in their 61 at-bats on the day.
In the circle, Kaiti White and Talli Burgess combined in game one. White got the start, going 2.0 innings, giving up four hits and four runs. Burgess came into relief, pitching 4.0 innings, giving up four runs off four hits and striking out seven batters in her second straight appearance. Morgan Radford and Lindsey Shope both pitched in game two. Radford got her eighth win of the season, dealing four innings, giving up four hits and two runs while striking out seven for the third time this season, tying her season best. Shope pitched the final inning, giving up just one hit and one hit, while striking out one batter.
GAME TWO: PATS RUN-RULE THE EAGLES, 14-4
Cumberlands came out swinging in the second game. Carly Oliver led off the contest with a double to left center, her team best, tenth of the season. Keatts got aboard after being hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on. Both moved up 60 feet from the next at-bat and then Sickau sent a ball to right field, deep enough to allow Oliver to score easily and Keatts to move up a base. Turnbow then belted her first double of the game to left center, scoring Keatts. Pawlak followed that up with a double of her own, blasting the ball down the left field line to make it a 3-0 game.
The Eagles answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to make it 3-2.
However, UC had an even bigger inning in the second. Paxton Hoop got on from a walk and then Morgan Radford got on base from a defensive error by the Eagles. Two batters later, Keatts sailed her fourth home run of the season, over the left field fence, driving in three runs. Emily Bryant reignited the offense with a single and then swiping second base. Turnbow then earned her second RBI in the contest, singling to left to score Bryant for the fourth run of the inning, making it 6-2.
UC had a three up, three down inning, on defense including a strikeout for the second out. Then the UC offense got back to work in the top of the third. The Pats put pressure on the Eagles getting two runners on from errors. Keatts kept the hot bat, sending the ball off the centerfield fence, driving in another run. With a runner just 60 feet from scoring, Bryant put down the perfect squeeze bunt to score a run. Sickau followed it up with a single down the left field line to drive in Keatts. Then back-to-back singles from Turmbow and Pawlak brought in another run, all on two outs making the score 11-2.
A trio of hits in the bottom of the third by Midway drove in a run to make it 11-3. However, Radford got a pair of strikeouts in the fourth with a runner on second to keep the scoreline what it was.
She turned the ball over to her offense in the fifth and once again a double started it for the Pats, from Keatts, hitting the right field fence. A single from Sickau and then Turnbow's second double of the game drove in a run. Pawlak put the ball in play scoring Sickau. Two batters later Hoop singled to center, driving in Turnbow to make it 14-3.
Shope entered the game in the bottom of the fifth. She got a groundout and then struckout a batter looking. The Eagles did hit a solo home run, but it would be their final hit, making it 14-4 victory for Cumberlands in five innings. It marks UC's eighth run-rule of the year.
GAME ONE: MIDWAY DEFEATS CUMBERLANDS, 6-2
UC got two runners on in the first inning but stranded them both. The Eagles earned two runs off three hits to take the early 3-0 lead. They then added two more in the third inning to go up 4-0.
UC got on the scoreboard in the fourth. With two outs, Pawlak got the offense going, with a single up the middle. Meryn Livingtson followed it up with a double in the right center gap, scoring Pawlak from first to make it 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, it was all Burgess, striking out the side in order, for the three up, three down inning. She then struckout the first batter in the fifth inning, but a pair of doubles and a walk put two more runs on the board for Midway to make it 6-1.
The sixth inning was another offensive inning for Cumberlands started by Pawlak. She had a single to left field. Two batters later, Radford singled up the middle to push Pawlak to third. Hailey Wood was the next batter and put the ball in play, scoring Pawlak to make it 6-2.
Neither team tallied anymore runs, making it a 6-2 final. The loss ends Cumberlands 12-game win streak and is the team's first loss since March 3. UC is now 27-3 in their first 30 games.
The Pats will return to the UC Softball Complex for their next games, a three-game Mid-South Conference series. UC will take on Thomas More, game one is set for Saturday, April 1 at 4PM ET.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
