With the conference tournament upon them, the University of the Cumberlands (UC) baseball team was looking to end the regular season on a strong note with matchups against Mid-South Conference (MSC) foe Shawnee State University and Brescia College.

On Friday, April 20^th, the Patriots traveled to Port Smith, OH for their last regular season MSC series.  In game one Cumberlands came out focused picking up the win 5-1.

UC sent Jason Rodriguez (Corpus Christi, TX; 5-4) to the mound to set the tone for the weekend.  He delivered one of his best performances of the season as he threw a complete game allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 4 strikeouts. 

The game was tied at 1 apiece heading into the sixth when the Patriots opened the game up scoring three runs to pull away.  The inning started with back to back singles from Evan Bennett (Winchester, KY) and Jared Martin (Cynthiana, KY).  Sam Pepper (Tabernacle, NJ) then reached base on an error to load the bases for Andrew Fox (Seymour, TN) who delivered a 2 RBI single.  Blake Debacher (Miami, FL) later hit a sac fly to right scoring Pepper.

In game two the Patriots fought hard throughout, but fell behind early in picking up the loss 10-3.  The loss went to Duncan Kaai-Ebert (Kapolei, HI; 4-2) who pitched 2.2 innings allowing 7 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits.  The win went to Alex Taku of Shawnee State who threw a complete game allowing 3 runs on 10 hits.

Cumberlands scored one run in the first when Jared Martin hit a sac to second scoring Justin Jackson (Jacksonville, FL) after he doubled to lead off the game.  They added two more in the sixth, but that was all they could push across the plate.

In game three Clint Davis (Chico, CA; 2-5) was lights out as he threw 8 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 7 strikeouts in getting the win. 

The Patriots jumped up 1-0 after the first when Brandon Napier (Hazard, KY) hit a sac fly scoring Evan Bennett who singled.  The lead would stay that way until the fifth when Shawnee tied it up on three straight singles.

The game would stay that way until the ninth inning when UC took the lead when Brandon Napier scored on a single from Jameson Debord (Lancaster, KY) to go up 2-1.  In the bottom half the Patriots brought in closer Quentin Bowman (Knoxville, TN) who threw a scoreless ninth in getting the save. 

On Sunday, April 22^nd, the Patriots held a doubleheader against Brescia University for their senior day.  It was an emotional day as the baseball team honored 7 seniors who have all played a key role in the program's success during their time on campus.

On the day the two teams combined for 36 runs on 44 hits in a slugfest.  Game one didn't go in the Patriots favor as they dropped it by a score of 14-10.  The loss went to Drew Morgan (Elizabethtown, KY; 1-3) who came in relief to pitch 1.2 innings allowing 6 runs (4 earned). 

In game two the Patriots bats were still hot and the pitching kept up with the pace as they won 10-2.  Getting the win was Donovan Feenstra (Calgary, Canada; 3-0) who pitched 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. 

Cumberlands put up 5 runs in the second and 3 in the third to jump out to a huge lead in the route.  The second was highlighted by a 2 run homerun from John Doolittle (Sharpsburg, GA).

Cumberlands 26-26 (8-13 MSC) are back in action on Thursday, April 26^th, for the MSC tournament when they take on Georgetown College at 11:00 am.

For more information on the University of the Cumberlands baseball team you can follow them on twitter @uccoachshelton or visit the athletics website http://www.cumberlandspatriots.com.