PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville baseball team and Campbellsville split the first two games of their Mid-South Conference series on Thursday at Johnnie LeMaster Field. The Bears overcame a 4-0 deficit late in game one to win 8-4 before losing 2-1 in extra innings in game two.

The Bears moved to 14-9 overall and 1-4 in MSC play, while the Tigers are now 14-10 overall and 3-2 in the league. The teams will meet for the final game of the series at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.

Game One - UPIKE 8, Campbellsville 4

UPIKE took the lead in the eighth inning and held on to defeat Campbellsville 8-4 after trailing 4-0. With the game knotted at four runs each in the bottom of the eighth, Josh Bailey singled off of Ray Fernandez to drive in the go-ahead run.

Campbellsville opened the scoring with one run in the first inning when Brett Hamilton doubled with two outs before scoring a second run himself. The Tigers added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to build the 4-0 lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Bears went to work on a comeback. It started when Ray Fernandez came in to pitch and promptly gave up two straight singles to load the bases, then walked in the Bears' first run. Kase Mattingly followed that with a 2-RBI single to make it 4-3, then Brandon Sewell roped an RBI single to tie the game.

When Bailey hit his go-ahead single, the Tigers went to the bullpen for Dexter Cline who immediately allowed an RBI single, then had another run score on an error before finally sending a run home on a wild pitch before being pulled. Kirby Broadbent brought the troubling inning for Campbellsville to a close by getting a UPIKE groundout.

Sewell earned the win for UPIKE after pitching just one-third of an inning in the top of the eighth with just one hit allowed.  A.J. Carkner recorded the last three outs for the Bears in the final inning. Fernandez took the loss for Campbellsville after giving up six runs on five hits and walking one batter.

Aaron Hedgecock started the game for UPIKE tossing 6 1/3 innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Indalecio Romo's start lasted four innings for Campbellsville, allowing three hits and striking out one with no runs allowed.

UPIKE finished with 12 total hits as Josh Bailey, Travis Haen and Luke Hartlage each tallied two each.  

Campbellsville collected ten hits. David Montoya, Hunter Christensen, Hamilton, and Carlos Garmendia each tallied multiple hits in the loss.

Game Two - Campbellsville 2, UPIKE 1 (8 inn.)

The Bears stayed in it until the end, but Campbellsville pulled away in extra inning for a 2-1 win in the nightcap. The game was tied at 1-1 with Campbellsville batting in the top of the eighth when Matt Valdez singled off of A.J. Carkner to break the tie.

The pitching was strong on both sides. Campbellsville's Logan Roberts earned the win after surrendering one run, five hits and striking out four in eight complete innings. A.J. Carkner took the loss for UPIKE after just one inning of work, surrendering one run on two hits in the eighth.

Dalton Dahley  tossed seven innings in his start for the Bears, giving up one run on four hits with six strikeouts before handing the game to Carkner in extra innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, UPIKE tied things up when Justin Beatty singled on a 2-1 count, but that would be it as for as offense.

Hartlage, Sewell, Beatty, Jorge Perez and Bailey each managed one hit for UPIKE which didn't commit any errors in the field. 

Campbellsville had six hits in the game with Matt Valdez and Clay Valenzuela-Reece each reaching safely multiple times.

-UPIKE-