Waleksa, GA – The No. 8 Patriots (2-1) took the first slate of the day over No. 9 Taylor (2-4), 8-5, but fell in their second matchup against UT Southern (2-3), 19-11. Over the course of the two games, Evan St. Claire and Jose Valentin both tallied five hits, Charlie Muñiz hit four, and Max Harper finished with three. Defensively, Wesely Culley and Caleb Plummer threw four strikeouts each, and the Pats combined for 16. 

GAME ONE: No. 8 UC Defeats Top-10 Opponent No. 9 Taylor, 8-5
Logan Wombles (1-0) earned his first win as a Patriot, after entering the game in relief in the middle of the seventh inning. The left-handed pitcher etched out of a bases-loaded situation with a pop-up to shallow right field for an inning-ending double play. Chipper Korbacher secured his second save of the weekend, closing out the ninth with three up, three down.

Designated hitter, Jose Valentin, went 3-for-5, with one run and one RBI. Charlie Muñiz also went 3-for-5 and accounting for one run. Christian Thompson had one hit, a three-run homerun, allowing the Pats to take the game-winning advantage.
Taylor jumped into a quick lead, with two runs off one hit in the bottom of the first inning to lead, 2-0. In the next inning, the Trojans added two more to extend to 4-0, from a sacrifice fly and an RBI single.

The Patriots were on the board after a solo home run hit by Alec Gonzalez in the top of the fourth, trailing 4-1.

The Trojans notched another run and led 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

At the top of the fifth, UC responded with two crossing the plate, shortening the gap to 5-3. Caden Petrey was first on base after being hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a single to left from Muñiz. Evan St. Claire also notched a single to left field, putting the base runners in scoring position. Petrey went home on Valentin followed with an RBI single, enabling Muñiz to head home for a 5-3 score.

After two scoreless innings, Cumberlands saw offensive action in an eventful top of the eighth inning, collecting five runs on four hits. The inning began with a solo home run to right field, from first baseman Harper. In the next at-bat, Valentin tallied his third hit of the game on a single to center and was followed by a walk to Gonzalez. On a sacrifice ground out to the pitcher, Ben Snapp enabled the runners to advance into scoring position. Petrey collected an RBI ground-out, allowing Valentin to cross the plate and tying it up at 5-5. For the 8-5 lead, Christian Thompson hit a three-run homer to right field.
 
GAME TWO: No. 8 Cumberlands Falls in Battle Against UT Southern, 19-11
Evan St. Claire led the Pats, going 4-for-5, recording three runs and four RBIs. Jaylen Jones hit 2-for-4 and was responsible for two RBIs and one run scored.

On the mound, Jake Kmiecik went for 2.1 innings. The graduate student threw three strikeouts, three groundouts, and allowed five hits, but held the Firehawks to just one run.

UT Southern hopped on the board early, with a homerun in the top of the first inning. They took three more runs in the top of three. With two doubles and a sacrifice fly, the Firehawks led 10-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Patriots' bats came alive in the bottom of four, with six runs on five hits and two outs. The inning began with two walks to Valentin and Gonzalez. Johnboy Rittenhouse hit in the six-hole, and with a single to second, he advanced the two baserunners. After the second out of the inning, Jaylen Jones doubled to center, earning two RBIs and putting the Pats on the board, 10-2. Clay Shelton marked a single RBI in the next at-bat, bringing two more runners home to make the score 10-4. Centerfielder St. Claire recorded an RBI triple and scored on error, cutting UC's deficit to 10-6.

Cumberlands tacked on two more runs, 10-8, after St. Claire knocked one out of the park, for a two RBI home run in the bottom of the sixth.

The Firehawks extended their lead to 11-8 from an RBI double in the top of the eighth.

In the bottom of eight, the Patriots answered with three runs off three hits, tying up with UT Southwestern, 11-11. Jones reached after being hit by a pitch and was then subbed out by pinch runner Ben Snapp, who was driven home by St. Claire with an RBI single to center field. In the following at-bat, Muñiz hit an RBI double to left, allowing St. Claire to cross the plate. Valentin enabled the final run for UC, notching an RBI single to left field.

UT Southern retaliated in the top of the ninth, plating eight runs for a final score of 19-11. 

Cumberlands looks to face Milligan on February 13^th.  The game holds a start time of 3 p.m. ET in Milligan, Tennessee.

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