CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville baseball team avoided a sweep at No. 20 Campbellsville by winning 5-4 in the finale on Friday. The Bears nearly won both games of the doubleheader but ended up losing the opener 10-9 on a walk-off hit.
With the split, UPIKE moves to 20-14 overall and 4-5 in the Mid-South Conference, while the Tigers are 24-10 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Up next for the Bears is a 1 p.m. ET doubleheader with Cincinnati Christian on Tuesday at Johnnie LeMaster Field.
GAME ONE – No. 20 Campbellsville 10, UPIKE 9
UPIKE led 9-2 in the top of the third inning after tallying four runs in both the second and third frames. But the scoring stopped there and the Tigers continued a consistent attack that ended with them scoring two go-ahead runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Dalton Dahley entered the game in the ninth inning in search of a save with a 9-8 lead, but was only able to record one out in the frame. Dahley walked his first batter, then hit the second. A bunt by Tyson Solis failed to be fielded for an out, loading the bases before an out could be recorded.
Logan Roberts drew a walk in the next at-bat which brought in the tying run. The next batter, Tyler Deason, flew out but it was deep enough to go down as a sac fly, allowing Matthew Valdez to hustle home from third and end the game.
UPIKE starter Aaron Hedgecock lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and two walks. He allowed his last run in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 9-5 lead for the Bears, when he was replaced by Brandon Sewell.
Sewell went on to scatter six hits for three runs with three strikeouts in the next 4 1/3.
D.J. Wilson, who pitched the top of the ninth, grabbed the win for Campbellsville as they staffed the game with five different pitchers. Roberts, the starter, left early after 1 1/3 innings as he gave up five runs on seven hits in a hurry.
The big, early lead for UPIKE was helped along by Nelson Muniz who drove in two runs with a single in the second before smashing in three runs in the third with a double to left center.
Muniz, Matt Peterson and Haen paced the Bears with two hits each, while Solis paced Campbellsville, going 4-for-5 and Marco Murillo went 3-for-5 with a home run and game-best four RBIs.
GAME TWO – UPIKE 5, No. 20 Campbellsville 4
Muniz stayed hot in game two, going 2-for-2 to drive in a pair of runs while also drawing a pair of walks. That, along with Haen going 3-for-3 with a run scored, helped the Bears overcome a 4-0 deficit in the last three innings.
Campbellsville tallied a single run in the second and third innings, then added two in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly by Shane Stober and RBI groundout from Valdez.
UPIKE's comeback started in the fifth as it scored two runs on three hits, including a sac fly by Jacob Alverado and Sewell husting home on a wild pitch after taking over on the bases for Lucas Bault after his single.
The teams combined for just one hit in the sixth inning, but the Bears didn't have that problem in the seventh as three more runs scored on four hits. Muniz delivered the first two tying runs on a single and Peterson added an RBI single to take the lead against reliever Tyler Deason who ended up facing just one batter.
Reliever Chase Robinson preserved the 5-4 lead with a ninth inning that included allowing just one walk, while the outs were secured with a pop out in foul territory, fly out to center and pop out to the shortstop.
Robinson took the win to improve to 2-0 on the season with a shutout final four frames that included giving up just one hit. Dahley started the game, allowing four runs on five hits in three innings.
-UPIKE-
