Barbourville, Ky. - UPIKE baseball opened their 2023 season today with a 13-9 road loss to the Union College Bulldogs. 

Union opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a home run, then tacked on a few more and led 3-0 heading into the third. Their lead did not last long, as UPIKE slugger Noah Helton tied the game with a three-run triple. Union tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning and led 5-3 after three innings of play. 

In the top of the fourth, Greg Lile crossed home plate after Ryan Sartin singled to right field. Similar to the third, the Bulldogs countered with run support of their own. Union stretched their lead to five after a pair of homers in the bottom of the fourth. Neither team scored again until Union scored off a sac-fly in the bottom of the sixth.

The Bears got a run back in the seventh when Noah Helton scored after a single by Cam Revolt. Later on in the frame, Tyler Freas hit a single to third to load the bases. Unfortunately, the Bears could not get another hit and stranded three. UPIKE would finish the game stranding 11 baserunners. 

Union piled on three more in the bottom of the seventh and led 13-5 heading into the eighth. In the top of the eighth, Connor Moody scored after Kyle Williams was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Cam Revolt hit a two-RBI double to make the score 13-8. Revolt would score later on after Tyler Maynard singled to center field. The Bears would not score again in the top of the ninth and Union took this one 13-9. As a team, the Bears scored nine runs off thirteen hits and committed four errors. 

UPIKE falls to 0-1 on the season following today's loss to the Bulldogs. Next up for Coach Cody Andreychuk's team is a trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for a three game set against Carolina University. 

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