Williamsburg, KY – The No. 9 Patriots (29-6) extended their winning streak to eight games with a 10-1 victory over Midway (14-18) on Tuesday afternoon at Doyle Buhl Stadium. The UC offense scored 10 runs on 15 hits, while the pitching staff allowed just one run.
 
Stuart Tharle (2-2) was impressive in his fifth start of the season, picking up his second win after throwing six strong innings, not allowing a single earned run on five hits. Jake Kmiecik entered in relief in the seventh inning. The graduate student recorded the final nine outs for Cumberlands, pitching three shutout innings while striking out two.
 
At the plate, Charlie Muniz was dominant, falling just short of the cycle with a home run, double, single, and four RBIs. Edwin Martinez was also strong, batting 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, three RBIs, and a stolen base. Pedro Vasquez went 2-for-5 with a double.
 
After a scoreless first frame, UC grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Pedro Vasquez doubled to leadoff the inning, then scored on an Edwin Martinez RBI-double to left center.
 
The Pats added another run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-0. Christian Thomspon hit a leadoff single, followed by a walk from Alec Gonzalez to put two runners on with nobody out. Charlie Muniz hit an RBI-single to left center to bring in Thompson.
 
Midway responded with a run of their own in the top of the fourth, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
 
UC answered in the bottom of the frame. Clay Shelton was hit by a pitch, then pinch ran for by Zamaurion Hatcher. Hatcher advanced to second on a passed ball in the next-at to put himself into scoring position. Caden Petrey was walked, followed by a Thompson hit by pitch to load the bases once again for Cumberlands. Alec Gonzalez did his job with a sacrifice fly out to center field, scoring Hatcher to extend the lead to 3-1.
 
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cumberlands increased the lead to 4-1. With one-out, Martinez walked, then stole second. Next at-bat, Trent Prokes hit an RBI-double doubled down the left field line.
 
The Patriots tacked on another run in the sixth inning. Edwin Martinez hit an RBI-single through the left side to make it a 5-1 ballgame.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, UC pulled away with five runs on five hits. Shelton was hit by a pitch, then Thomspon collected an RBI-single to left field to score Hatcher, who came into pinch run for Shelton. One batter later, Muniz blasted a three-run home run to left field, his 23^rd of the season to make the score, 9-1. Couple of batters later, Martinez drove in another run with an RBI-double into the left center gap, finalizing the score at 10-1.
 
Cumberlands will host Carolina University this weekend for a three-game set beginning on Friday April 4^th at 3 p.m. ET.
 
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