LEBANON, Tenn. -- Playing error free in the field, getting more than six strong innings from its starter and a potent offense helped the University of Pikeville baseball team avoid a sweep at Cumberland with a 9-4 win over the Phoenix on Sunday.
Aaron Hedgecock got the win after 6 2/3 innings as he scattered 10 hits for three runs with two batters struck out and two walks issued. Justin Dzubia allowed another run in two innings of relief before Brandon Sewell entered to grab the save by getting the final out in a bases-loaded situation in the ninth.
Travis Dohr took the loss for Cumberland after allowing five runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and four walks in six innings on the bump.
UPIKE was led at the plate by Jacob Alvarado and Matt Peterson with three hits each, while Jorge Perez drove in a pair of runs with his two-run blast that was part of a four-run seventh that pushed the Bears ahead 9-2.
Cumberland waited too long to start a rally as its only offense the rest of the way came on an RBI single in the seventh and home run by Andy Garretson in the eighth.
After two scoreless innings, UPIKE struck first with Alvarado scoring on a wild pitch and Peterson knocking an RBI single in the third. The Phoenix cut the lead in half with a run in the fourth, but consistent scoring by UPIKE allowed it to never lose the lead.
A sac fly by Nelson Muniz in the fifth inning made it 3-1 and a two-run single by Alvarado in the sixth extended the gap to 5-1. Cumberland, which was kept off balance by Hedgecock, couldn't string multiple runs together once it got to his relievers as it managed just one each in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames.
UP NEXT
UPIKE returns home to face Alice Lloyd in a midweek matchup at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Johnnie LeMaster Field.
Â
-UPIKE-