Box Score A late rally by Cumberland University wasn't going to snap Campbellsville University's win streak, and second baseman Luke Gadow made sure of it. The junior from Pollock Pines, Calif., went opposite field with a two-out single to snap a 4-4 tie and give the Tigers their seventh-straight win, a 5-4 upset of No. 3 Cumberland at Tiger Field on Wednesday.

"This time, we feel a lot more confident in ourselves and as a team we're growing. We told ourselves we weren't going to lose this game and just kept at it," said Gadow, referring to the difference between Wednesday's game and a 7-1 loss at Cumberland last month.

Gadow, who scored the Tigers' first run in the second inning, drove in Michael Caleb for the winning run, as he pushed the single to right on a 2-0 count in the bottom of the eighth. The run came in response to a four-run top-half of the inning by the Bulldogs.

"I told myself not to do anything too much. I figured they were going to try to go outside on me, so I was just waiting on that outside pitch," said Gadow, who was held hitless in the previous meeting.

"That was a clutch hit," CU head coach Beauford Sanders said. "He has raised his average about 50 or 60 points in the past few games."

While Jameel Ziadeh drove in Gadow for the first run of the game, designated hitter Logan Smith put the Tigers up 4-0 with a three-run home run down the leftfield line in the third. It was his fourth bomb of the season and third in the past seven games, numbers that helped earn him the Mid-South Conference Player of the Week honor for last week.

"He's on fire. He's just stroking the ball. He can hit down the left-field line, he can hit it right or center," Sanders said.

Because of the recent increase in hitting, Sanders predicted a victory moments before the game, as long as his pitching held up.

Tiger middle reliever Rusty Devitt got his first start of the season and exited the game after five innings with a 4-0 lead. He allowed two hits, two walks and struck out a pair. While Devitt, was in position for the win, he finished with a no decision after Alex Tolmachoff allowed four runs off four hits, a walk and an error in the top of the eighth.

The Bulldogs scored their first run of the game on a wild pitch by Tolmachoff and cut the lead in half, 4-2, with an RBI single from Kikla that scored Kautz. After Tolmachoff walked the next batter to load the bases, his day was cut short. CU ace Ian Pick took over on the mound. Despite blowing the save opportunity, Pick escaped the jam with a 4-6-3 double play hit to Gadow and then a line out to first base.

Gadow's base hit in the bottom half of the inning gave Pick his third victory in relief as he moved to 7-0 for the year. Jared Lunardi (4-1) closed the game in the ninth for his first save of the season.

"This is a big win, because we weathered a storm against the No. 3 team in the nation. We were shaky, and I'm going to talk to them about that. We've got to be ready for when that happens, but we had enough today to find a way to get it done. I'm so proud of them," Sanders said.

Christian Jennings (1-1) recorded the loss for the Bulldogs. Matt MacFarland pitched the first six innings of the game.

CU (23-12) is now 10-1 since losing at Cumberland on March 23. The Tigers will host St. Catharine College for a Mid-South Conference four-game series this weekend. Play will begin with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday, April 9 and continue with a doubleheader April 10.

Cumberland (29-8) travels to Trevecca Nazarene University for a three-game TranSouth Athletic Conference series April 9-10.