Mid-South

The Cumberland College baseball team completed the regular season conference schedule with a home weekend series against Lambuth University, the Patriots also played host to Union College during the week. The Patriots picked up a win over Union 6-3, and won three of four from Lambuth 6-0, 0-6, 5-4, and 5-0.
The Patriots will now head into the post-season, trying to defend the Mid-South Conference title they won last year at Georegtown College. Tournament play begins Friday with the Patriots taking on the winner of the Lambuth-Pikeville College game at 7 p.m. The semifinals will be played Saturday and the finals on Sunday.
Against Union College, the Patriots took control of a 3-3 game with a three run bottom of the eighth. Senior shortstop Matt Mikolajcizk (Glasgow, KY) broke the tie with suicide squeeze to score junior Chris Wood (Tallahassee, FL). The squeeze was followed by back-to-back run scoring singles from junior Chris Cartas (Russellville, KY) and sophomore Daniel Guttridge (Richwood, KY). Freshman Patrick Miller (Lenoir City, TN) came on in relief to collect his seventh win of the season.
In the first game of the Lambuth series, junior Adam Walker (Oak Ridge, TN) threw a four hit shutout, while striking out eight as the Patriots rolled to 6-0 victory. The five run Patriot second inning was fueled by a two run triple from junior Tommy Guinn (Cropwell, AL). Wood (.339-8-38) was 2-for-3 with a run scored. The second game saw the same score, but for the other team. The Patriots were defeated 6-0 as the offense could only muster four hits.
The Patriots trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning in the third game of the series but they rallied for four runs in the inning. Sophomore Victor Wooldridge (Jamestown, KY) had a two run double to spark the rally, followed by run scoring singles from Mikolajcizk and senior Aaron Ellis (Lancaster, KY). Senior Isaiah Ruffner (Kingston, TN) earned his fifth win of the season and fellow senior Jake Shaver (Dayton, TN) came on in relief to earn his second save. In the final game of the series, junior Josh Blanton (London, KY) threw a four hit shutout as the Patriots cruised to a 5-0 victory. Freshman Chaz Gentry (Greenville, SC) lead the offense going 2-for-3 with a double, homerun, two RBI, and two runs scored.