Lake Wales, FL – On day one of the Warner Invitational, the fifth-ranked Patriots (16-3) earned a couple of shutout victories over Aquinas (1-10), 6-0, and Warner (8-12), 5-0, at Royals Stadium on Friday.
No. 5 Cumberlands Blanks the Saints, 6-0
On the mound, Knicko Billings earned the win to move to 3-1 on the season, throwing six strikeouts and allowing seven hits across seven scoreless innings, with 89 pitches. Ben Rohrbach entered the game in relief in the top of the eighth to record the final six outs, allowing just two hits with three strikeouts.
At the plate, Alec Gonzalez led the way for Patriots. The shortstop went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Trent Prokes batted 1-for-4, driving in two runs on a double to right field.
After four scoreless innings to begin the game, Cumberlands was able to take a 4-0 lead with a four-run fifth inning. Christan Thompson led off the inning with a walk. After back-to-back fly outs, Max Harper walked to put two runners on with two outs. Cumberlands took advantage of an Aquinas mistake as Caden Petrey reached on an error by the shortstop, scoring Thompson to put the Pats on the board. Next at-bat, Gonzalez singled to right field to bring in another run. The line kept moving as Trent Prokes hit a two-RBI double to right field to plate Petrey and Gonzalez.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Patriots drove in two more runs to secure the 6-0 final score. After the first two outs were recorded, both Muniz and Andiarena drew two out walks to put two runners on base. Harper made it count as he notched an RBI single to right to score Muniz, and advancing to third on an error by the right fielder, scoring Andiarena from first.
No. 5 UC Records Second Consecutive Shutout to Defeat Warner, 5-0
Kailen Hamson (3-0) had his best outing of the season and was credited with the win. The left-handed pitcher threw 6.1 innings, not allowing a single run on just three hits and a season-high 12 strikeouts. JD Price came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh to close this one out, going 2.2 innings with two strikeouts and two hits allowed.
Catcher, Charlie Muniz, went 2-for-5 against Warner with a home run and an RBI. Edwin Martinez batted 2-for-3, notching a double and two walks. Max Harper also collected a pair of hits, going 2-for-5 with an RBI.
The Patriots struck first against Warner with three runs in the top of the third. Trent Prokes led the inning off with a home run to right field to give UC the lead, 1-0. Couple of batters later, Muniz stepped up to the plate and delivered a solo home run to left center, breaking the NAIA career home run record with his 89th. Harper added an RBI single to left to plate another run and give the Pats a 3-0 advantage.
Cumberlands tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the eighth to secure the 5-0 win. With the bases loaded, Ben Snapp recorded an RBI single to third base, scoring Harper. Two batters later, Christian Thompson was hit by a pitch to drive in another run.
The No. 8 Patriots will face Aquinas at 10 a.m. and Warner at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday March 8th for day two of the Warner Invite.
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