Gulf Shores, AL – The UC softball team claimed a pair of wins on the second day of the Gulf Shores Invitational. #24 Cumberlands first posted their fourth run-rule of the season taking down Houston-Victoria 10-2 then defeated #23 Webber with a 6-0 victory.

A trio of Pats recorded four hits on the day in Bailey Turnbow, Maddie Sickau and Mackenzie Pawlak. The three of them also accounted for eight of the 13 team RBI. Both Sickau and Pawlak blasted home runs, for Sickau it marked the 20^th of her career.

Both Talli Burgess and Morgan Radford went the distance in the circle for both games. Burgess tossed game one, striking out four batters, giving up nine hits and a pair of runs. For Radford, it was her second seven inning shutout of the season. She only gave up three hits with a pair of Ks.
 
GAME ONE: CUMBERLANDS RUN-RULES HOUSTON-VICTORIA, 10-2
The Jaguars got a runner all the way to third in the first inning, but Burgess got a strikeout and a popout to leave her stranded. The Crandall, GA kept the momentum going, striking out a pair in the second inning. Her final K in the frame was looking, once again stranding a runner at third.

The next half inning, the Pats got their offense going, starting with Sickau launching the ball over the left field fence for the solo shot. Turnbow followed it up with a single, right up the middle. Then Pawlak laced the second homer of the inning to left center for the two RBI, giving UC the 3-0 lead.

Another quick inning on defense with a Burgess strikeout, got the offense going again. Carly Oliver kickstarterd it with a double to center field, followed by a single from Makenzie Keatts to put runners on the corners. Emily Bryant laid down a squeeze bunt which scored Oliver but an error by the Jaguars scored Keatts and pushed Bryant to third. Sickau was up next and drilled a ball through the five-six hole to score Bryant. The Pats loaded the bases in the inning, but did  not score anymore for three runs in the inning. Bryant cleared the bases for the two RBI double down the left field line. After Sickau walked, Turnbow smacked the ball down the right field line to score Bryant. Pawlak followed it up with a single to load the bases. Hoop brought in Sickau to give UC the 10-2 lead they needed for the run-rule in the bottom of the fourth.

Three fly balls in the fifth inning for the Jaguars ended the game, for UC's first win of the day.
 
GAME TWO: PATRIOTS DEFEAT #24 WEBBER, 6-0
Radford struck a batter out in the second and turned the ball over to her offense. Turnbow sliced the ball to left field for the single. Then Pawlak came up with a ball just staying fair down the left field line for the RBI single. Hoop followed it up with a sacrifice bunt to advance Pawlak to third and then she scored off a wild pitch for the 2-0 lead.

In the third inning UC loaded the bases for Turnbow. The Cookeville, TN  native kept the hot bat, hitting the ball to left side for the RBI, extending the lead to 3-0.

Two, three-up, three-down innings for Cumberlands on defense guided UC to another run in the fifth. Bryant put down a bunt single and Sickau followed it up with a single to center field to put runners on the corners. Turnbow stepped in the box and sailed the ball to center field, deep enough to easily score Bryant for the 4-0 lead.

Cumberlands got Dale aboard from a walk and then rattled off a pair of singles from Wood and Oliver to load the bases. Keatts drove the ball to deep left field for the SAC fly. An error in the next play scored one more for Cumberlands to make it 6-0.

In the seventh inning, the Warriors got a runner on, but Radford struckout the final batter for her sixth win of the season and the team's seventh shutout of the year.

UC will finish out the Gulf Shores Invitational with a game tomorrow, Sunday March 5. The team will face #25 Saint Xavier at 2:30PM 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.