Williamsburg, KY – The ninth-ranked Patriots (28-6, 9-0) recorded their third consecutive MSC series sweep after defeating Bethel (14-14, 2-6) in both games of the twin bill on Saturday at Doyle Buhl Stadium. UC earned an 11-2 victory in the first game, followed by a close 4-3 win to wrap up the series.
No. 9 Cumberlands Earns Dominant Victory Over Bethel, 11-2
Knicko Billings took the start on the mound and was credited with his sixth win of the season after throwing four strikeouts across six innings, not allowing a single earned run. He went three up, three down in two innings.
Yannis Rembert came in to record the final three outs in the seventh, collecting a strikeout, ground out, and fly out.
At the plate, cleanup hitter,
Max Harper batted 2-for-2 with a home run, two walks, and three RBI's.
Caden Petrey hit 1-for-2 with a triple, walk, and three RBI's as well.
Christian Thompson ended the game with three singles and an RBI.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Patriots were first on the board, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the second to make it 7-0.
Alec Gonzalez started the big inning with a walk, then advanced to second after
Edwin Martinez reached first on an error by the pitcher.
Trent Prokes notched an infield single to quickly load the bases for the Pats.
Caden Petrey delivered with a three-RBI triple to the right center gap, putting UC on the board. Next at-bat, Thomspon did his job with an RBI groundout to score Petrey from third. Couple of batters later,
Max Harper notched his 50
th career home run to left field, plating three runs and moving to third all-time in school history.
In the top of the fourth inning, Bethel got on the board with two runs to make it a 7-2 ballgame.
Cumberlands responded right away in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs on just one hit. With one out, UC drew threw consecutive walks to load the bases for
Edwin Martinez. Martinez hit a two-RBI single up the middle, giving UC a 9-2 lead.
Trent Prokes then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing in Gonzalez from third and increasing the lead, 10-2.
UC would tack on one more run in the bottom of the sixth on another Prokes RBI-sacrifice fly to finalize the game at 11-2.
No. 9 Cumberlands Slides Past Bethel, 4-3
On the mound,
Cooper Morgan (1-0) took his second start of the season and was credited with the win after pitching five full innings, with seven strikeouts and four allowed hits. He was relieved by
Jake Kmiecik in the top of the sixth inning. Kmiecik allowed just one hit while striking out two across 1.2 innings pitched.
Ben Rohrbach entered in relief and was impressive, striking out four of the five batters he faced in 1.1 innings of work.
JD Price picked up his fifth save of the season after retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth.
At the plate,
Caden Petrey batted 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.
Edwin Martinez hit 2-for-4 as well, tally two singles, a stolen base, and one RBI.
Pedro Vasquez finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
UC grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After the first two outs were recorded,
Max Harper drew a walk, followed by a Charlie Muniz single through the ride side to put runners on the corners. Right fielder,
Pedro Vasquez, hit a single of his own to left field to bring in a run.
Edwin Martinez made it back-to-back-to-back singles to plate Muniz from third.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Pats extended their lead to 4-0 with two more runs on three hits.
Clay Shelton singled to lead off the inning, then Petrey doubled to right center to put two runners into scoring position.
Christian Thompson followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in a run.
Alec Gonzalez continued his hot series at the plate with a single through the right side, plating Petrey from third.
Bethel would score their only three runs of the game in the top of the third to make it a 4-3 ballgame, but it would not be enough as the Patriots pitching staff would not allow a single run the rest of the way.
The #9 Patriots will hit the road to face Midway for a mid-week match up on Tuesday April 1
st, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
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