Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots extended their win streak to 12 and earned their third straight MSC series sweep after taking down the 25^th ranked Tigers of Campbellsville in a double header on Saturday. UC move to 24-6 on the season and 9-0 in the conference.
 
Game one saw Jessica Cord earn the win after throwing a complete game while giving up just two hits and one run over seven innings and striking out three. The second game featured Lindsey Shope who earned her 11^th win of the season, throwing 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, and 1 K. Kaitlyn Schofield threw 1.2 innings of relief before Cassidy Gentry came in and earned the save in the top of the seventh by striking out the final batter of the game.
 
Jade Gainer and Aniyah White had outstanding days at the plate, each going 4-6. White hit a double in the first game while Gainer added a pair of stolen bases. Jules Johnson added a huge homerun, going 2-3 in game two with a pair of RBI's while Emma McDonald combined to go 3-7 with 3 RBI's in the two games. Carly Oliver, Maliyah Wilkins, and Marquila Howell each added a double in the first game as well.
 
Pats Take Down Tigers 5-1 to Clinch Series
Cord shut down the Tigers offense the first time through the lineup, not giving up a hit through the first three innings. UC broke the stalemate in the third scoring all five of their runs. Howell started the rally with a double followed by a walk from Amber Gainer. McDonald then delivered a two-RBI single to score both runners. The freshman advanced to third after a double from Oliver to put two runners in scoring position for Wilkins. The Mount Juliet, TN native then scored McDonald with a groundball to the left side for UC's third run of the inning. Bailey Turnbow then delivered an RBI single to left, scoring Oliver. Turnbow stole second and moved to third after a single from J. Gainer. Gainer then stole second and forced a throw, allowing Turnbow to slide into home just before the throw from the Tigers to put UC ahead 5-0.
 
CU earned their first hit in the fourth from a bunt and earned a walk after to put runners on first and second with one out. Cord did not waiver, earning a fly out to center and a ground ball to third to strand both base runners and keeping the Pats lead at five.
 
The Tigers scratched their first run across in the fifth off an RBI-single, but once again Cord stranded a CU runner to get out of the jam. Wilkins doubled in the bottom of the fifth to try and get the run back but could not score as UC held the 5-1 lead into the sixth.
 
After a three-up-three-down sixth inning, White roped a double into the left field gap, but again could not score as she was stranded at second. Cord came back out for the seventh inning and sat the Tigers down in order to take the victory and give UC the series win.
 
UC Hold Off Late Threat to Sweep Campbellsville
Shope started the game with a ground out before giving up a single to left. She answered right back, getting another grounder that Jade Gainer scooped up at third and threw around the diamond for a 543 double play. McDonald singled in the bottom half but was left stranded, ending the first scoreless.
 
After a quick second inning from CU, J. Gainer and White delivered single to put runners on first and second with two outs. However, the Tigers got out of the jam to keep the game even at 0-0 after two.
 
Shope continued to deal, earning six straight outs in the third and fourth inning, giving her team a chance to take the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, J. Gainer led off with a single, followed by a bunt single from Johnson to put runners on first and second with no outs., White came through with another hit to load the bases for Marquilla Howell. The senior came through with an infield single to open the scoring for UC and keep the bases loaded. After a Tigers pitching change, A. Gainer hit a sac-fly to left, scoring Johnson. Howell and White advanced a base each on a wild pitch, and White scored a batter later off an RBI groundout from McDonald. Howell then took advantage of another wild pitch, scoring from third to give UC a 4-0 lead after four.
 
The Tigers led off the fifth inning with a solo homerun for their first score of the game. Shope answered right back with three straight outs to get her team back in the dugout. Wilkins led off the bottom half with a walk and was pinch ran for as Kaysee Dale entered the game. Jules Johnson then stepped to the plate and belted one well over the center field fence for her first homerun of the season, giving Cumberlands a 6-1 lead.
 
Schofield came in to pitch in the sixth and stranded a runner on second to keep UC's five run lead. After a quick bottom half, the Pats needed just three outs to take the series sweep. Schofield got the first batter to ground out before the second batter reached on an error from the Pats outfield. With a runner now on second, Schofield earned another ground ball for the second out of the inning. However, Campbellsville did not go down with out a fight, as a homerun and a double in the next three at-bats cut their deficit to just three. UC then called on Cassidy Gentry with runners on second and third. After giving up a single that scored two, and walking the next batter, CU had the tying run on second. The Tigers loaded the bases after a single hit Gentry in the circle. With the bases loaded and two outs, Gentry struck out the CU three-hole looking to end the game, giving UC the 6-5 victory.
 
Cumberlands are now the only team in the Mid-South Conference to have an undefeated record in conference play. They will look ahead to Tuesday where they head south to take on Johnson University for a double header in Knoxville, TN. Game one is set to begin at 3 PM ET with game two following after.
 
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