Lebanon, Tenn. - The Bears opened Mid-South Conference play on with three road losses to the Cumberland Phoenix. 


Game 1 - UPIKE 1, Cumberland 4
Neither the Bears nor the Phoenix put any runs on the board in the first three innings. The fourth inning, however, saw CU hang four runs on the Bears. 

UPIKE got one run back in the top of the fifth. Lillie Kluesner crossed the plate after a sacrifice groundout by Katelyn Byrd. Neither team scored again after and Cumberland took game one. 

Game 2 - UPIKE 2, Cumberland 10 (5 innings)
Cumberland came out swinging in game two, scoring two runs in the second and third innings. The Phoenix put the game out of reach by hanging four runs in the fourth. 

The Bears got on the board in the fifth when Haleigh Jones scored after Sam Case singled to right field. UPIKE scored again when Sophie Kluesner hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Amber Triplett to make it 8-2. 

CU scored two in the bottom of the fifth to run-rule the Bears by a final score of 10-2. 

Game 3 - UPIKE 4, Cumberland 6
While UPIKE's offense continued to struggle, the Phoenix picked up where they left off in game three. 

CU scored one in the second, two in the third, another one in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. After a scoreless sixth from both teams, things got interesting in the seventh. 

Jamie Pollard got the Bears on the board with an RBI double. Zoey Keeton made it 6-2 with an RBI single. After a Cumberland throwing error, Clara Blair scored to cut the lead to three. Karsen Pritchard then crossed the plate after Sophie Kluesner singled to left field. 

After mounting a furious comeback, the Bears fell short and lost 6-4. 

The Bears fall to 10-5 (0-3 MSC) following this weekend's sweep at the hands of the Phoenix. UPIKE will look to right the ship when they travel to KCU Tuesday afternoon. 

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