FLORENCE, Ky. -- It took UPIKE a couple innings to get going, but once it did, the Bears never looked back in possibly its best day of the season, sweeping Cincinnati Christian in a doubleheader.

Game 1

The first game actually was a bit of a struggle at the start for the Bears, but Pikeville's offense kicked into overdrive in the later innings en route to a 16-3 win in seven innings.

Pikeville went back to its recent method of operation with scoring early, but in super smallball fashion. Jacob Alvarado started the game with a walk and then stole second and third to score on a RBI single from Jay Vincent. It was the first of eight RBIs on the day from Vincent.

Cincinnati Christian took its first and only lead of the day in the second after a walk, double, and single came to bite UPIKE starter Chase McKinney. Outside of that inning, McKinney had yet another solid outing with a seven-hit complete game with four strikeouts.

The Eagles lead would last until the fifth, when UPIKE went a streak of 15 unanswered runs, started with back-to-back four run innings.

Luke Lubiniecki did all the scoring himself in the fifth with a grand slam out to right-center field, his third home run of the season. The work was split in the sixth between a two-RBI double by Pastor Sanchez and a two-run home run by Alvarado, his second in the last seven days.

All nine starters recorded a hit in the game, and five recorded multiple hits.

That rally continued into the seventh inning which saw UPIKE send 13 batters to the plate for seven runs. Luke Hartlage, Kase Mattingly, Tyler Menrath, and Vincent (three) all recorded RBIs in the massive eight-hit inning.

Game 2

UPIKE's bats stayed red hot in the second game, recording 16 hits in the Bears' 14-1 win in the latter half of the doubleheader.

The heart of UPIKE's order — Lubiniecki, Vincent, and Anthony Houk — combined to go 8-for-9 in the game with nine RBIs, two doubles, a home run, and three walks in the offensive onslaught. Yet again, all nine starters recorded a hit in the game, which meant that Menrath extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

The leadoff through cleanup hitters started the game with a triple from Alvarado, a walk to Menrath, a Lubiniecki single and a sacrifice fly from Vincent resulted in an immediate 2-0 lead for the Bears.

That lead extended to 6-0 in the second inning after a four-run frame. Lubiniecki had a two-RBI double while Houk later had an RBI single where an additional run scored on an error. Those were the only two hits in the inning as Pikeville let CCU hurt themselves with three walks and a hit batter.

Houk had another RBI on a double in the fourth and scored himself on a wild pitch. Rodny Rodriquez then got in on the fun himself with an RBI single in the inning to push the lead to 9-0 Bears.

CCU got its only run in the game in the bottom of the fourth with a back-to-back double and single. That run was the only down mark of starter Peyton Dove's day. Dove pitched 5.2 innings, giving up just four hits while striking out seven.

Pikeville piled on even more in the final inning, starting with a three-run home run from Vincent. After the Bears got runners to second and third on a Rodriquez double, Hartlage hit an RBI ground out then John Duff hit a pinch hit single to get the game to final 14-1 score.

UP NEXT

Pikeville will continue its road swing with a three-game set this weekend at Cumberlands (Ky.), beginning with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, then a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader in Williamsburg.

-UPIKE-