Williamsburg, KY- A late rally, capped off by a seven-run eighth inning, helped the ninth-ranked Patriots gets the job done as they took down Midway 18-15 Tuesday afternoon at Doyle Buhl Stadium. The Pats recorded six extra-base hits on their way to a 37-6 record on the year.
UC threw eight arms today with
Jake Kmiecik coming in late to earn the win as he pitched 1.0 innings, only allowing one hit.
Cesar Avila picked up the save after pitching 1.0 innings, retiring the Eagles three up and three down with two strikeouts.
Bryan Juarez got the start, while
Zach Carlsen,
Joe Bertram,
Willis McCarter,
Josh Descher, and
Jared Shelton all made appearances.
Max Harper led the way at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run and double for two RBIs.
Charlie Muniz also had a good day, going 3-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
Ryan Shavers went 3-3 with a double and three RBIs, while
Ben Snapp went 2-3 with a double and three RBIs.
Midway opened the game with four runs in the first inning to take the lead, and UC answered with a five-run second inning. Harper led off the inning with a double to right field before
Evan St Claire notched an RBI single. Snapp followed with a single to left field, and
Josh Simon walked to load the bases. Shavers followed with a two-RBI double down the left-field line. A few pitches later, Simon scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4. Shavers was able to score a few plays later to take the 5-4 lead.
The Eagles plated one run before the Pats answered with two runs in the third. With one out, Harper hit a solo shot clear over the left field fence. Next, St Claire notched a single to left center. A double from Snapp put runners on second and third, and an RBI sacrifice fly from Shavers gave UC the 7-5 lead.
Midway scored seven runs in the fourth to take the 12-7 lead. They would score two more runs in the sixth to make it a 15-7 game. Cumberlands started to chip away at the Eagles lead as they scored a run in their next at-bat. With one out, Muniz hit a double to left center before
Sujel Arias singled to left field to put runners on the corners. An RBI single from Harper cut the lead down to 15-8.
After holding the Eagles scoreless, UC scored three more runs to make it a 15-11 game. Shavers started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Petrey and Muniz drew walks with one out to load the bases. After a change of pitchers, Arias notched a two-run single to leftfield to make it a 15-10 game. Harper followed by getting walked to reload the bases, and UC would score on a wild pitch to make it 15-11.
The Patriots held Midway scoreless again before taking the lead with a seven-run inning of their own in the eighth. With one out, Shavers singled to left center and Petrey got hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Muniz notched an RBI double down the right-field line. Arias followed with an RBI single toward second base to cut the lead to 15-13. After a change of pitchers, Harper walked and St. Claire reached on an error. That error scored two runs to tie the game at 15-15. After a Snapp walk, Simon notched a two-run single to left field for the 17-15 lead. An RBI single from Shavers scored the game's final run as the Patriots held the Eagles scoreless in the top of the ninth for the win.
Cumberlands will host the final MSC series of the season on Thursday and Friday as Pikeville comes to town. All times for the games are currently TBA.
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