Columbus, GA – The No. 4 Patriots continued to battle through the loser's bracket of the 2024 NAIA Softball World Series with their third game against the Stars of Oklahoma City, taking down the two seed 4-1 with an early offensive rally. The Cumberlands offense recorded four runs on five hits while the pitching staff recorded three strikeouts on the day.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
In the first inning, the Stars were the first to record a hit and threatened early until a routine flyout, served up by pitcher Lindsey Shope, sent UC to the plate. In their first offensive strike, Carly Oliver sparked the inning with a leadoff walk followed by an Amber Gainer sacrifice bunt to place Oliver in scoring position. Jade Gainer continued the rally with a single to left field to place runners on the corners. Jade Gainer quickly swiped second before advancing to third on a throwing error and seeing Oliver score on the error for a 1-0 Cumberlands lead. Makenzie Keatts followed suit with a sacrifice bunt to score Jade Gainer and elevate the Pats to a 2-0 lead to close the first inning.

The second inning saw the Stars record their second hit of the game, but a clutch strikeout from Lindsey Shope retired the side and send the Patriots to the plate. The bottom of the second saw the Patriots retire to send the game into the third frame. In the top of the third, Oliver got the Pats out of a jam with a diving grab behind the second base bag to turn a double play and end the inning. Cumberlands looked to add to their lead in the bottom half of the inning but were unable to garner a baserunner. The top of the fourth saw the Stars record their lone run of the game on two hits. Patriots' relief pitcher Talli Burgess came in during the top of the fourth and shut the door on the Stars with a strikeout to end the top of the inning. Cumberlands looked to tack on insurance runs but were unable to garner a base runner to close out the fourth inning, holding a 2-1 lead.

A relentless Stars offense recorded another hit during the top of the fifth inning, but the Pats defense held them to one run before returning to offense. The bottom of the fifth saw Emily Bryant rip a leadoff single to left field to see UC with a base runner. The Pats continued to put the ball in play but were unable to find a gap to hold a 2-1 lead at the end of the fifth frame. A one, two, three inning quickly retired the Stars' offense in the top of the sixth to see Cumberlands return to the plate for another chance at recording insurance runs. The bottom of the sixth was sparked by a Jade Gainer double to left centerfield where a two-out, RBI single from Amber Atkins pushed UC's third run across for a 3-1 lead. Turnbow followed suit with a disciplined plate approach to draw a walk paired with a Bryant single down the left field line for the Pats final run of the day and a 4-1 advantage. Cumberlands held the Stars' offense hitless in the top of the seventh to avoid elimination and record a 4-1 victory!

LEADERS
Leading the way offensively, Jade Gainer was 2-3 at the plate with two runs while Bryant was 2-3 with one RBI followed by Atkins who went 1-3 at the plate with one RBI.

Pitcher Burgess recorded her 16th win of the season after tossing 3.1 innings, recording two strikeouts and only allowing one hit. Pitcher Shope also tossed 3.2 innings, recording one strikeout and only allowing four hits.

Cumberlands will continue to battle against elimination as the face the loser of game 11 between No. 1 Our Lady of the Lake (TX) and No. 5 Oregen Tech University. The Patriots next game will commence on Monday, May 27th at 1:00 p.m. (EST) inside the South Commons Complex in Columbus, GA.

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.