WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — The Mid-South Conference baseball regular season title is coming down to a pair of three-game series' this week and Campbellsville University is still in the hunt.
The Tigers are traveling to No. 20 University of the Cumberlands on Thursday, April 20 with a doubleheader scheduled at 5 p.m. ET. Game three is set to start on Friday at 1 p.m. ET at Doyle Buhl Stadium.
All three games of the series will be streamed on the University of the Cumberlands Sports Network at the links above.
Mid-South Conference bragging rights and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MSC tournament is on the line. Entering Thursday, Cumberlands holds a two-game lead over Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson in the MSC standings with a 12-3 record. CU and LWC are tied at 10-5 but the Blue Raiders hold the tiebreaker.
Scenarios are listed below:
• If Cumberlands wins a game over the Tigers this weekend, the Patriots are the regular season champions and No. 1 seed.
• If Campbellsville sweeps Cumberlands and Lindsey Wilson sweeps Pikeville, both Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson are co-regular season champions. Lindsey Wilson would be the No. 1 seed in the tournament due to winning 2-of-3 from the Tigers in the regular season series.
• If Campbellsville sweeps Cumberlands and Pikeville wins at least one game over Lindsey Wilson, Campbellsville is the regular season champions and the No. 1 seed.
• If Campbellsville loses one game to Cumberlands and Lindsey Wilson sweeps Pikeville, Cumberlands is the regular season champions and one-seed, Lindsey Wilson is the two-seed and Campbellsville is the three-seed.
Campbellsville vs. Cumberlands:
The Tigers are coming off their bye week in the Mid-South Conference and traveled to former MSC foe West Virginia Tech, sweeping the Golden Bears in two games. CU also traveled to No. 22 Missouri Baptist and lost both on Tuesday afternoon.
Cumberlands is entering the series on a seven-game win streak and winning 14-of-15. The lone loss in that span came in game one to Lindsey Wilson on April 8. The Patriots have only three MSC loses this season – Lindsey Wilson and two to Georgetown College on March 24-25.
CU is led at the plate by
Clay Valenzuela-Reece hitting .345 with two home runs and 15 RBI.
Romello Carbuccia, who hit three long balls vs. WVU Tech last weekend, leads the Tigers with five home runs, while
Matthew Valdez has a team-high 25 RBI.
The Tigers, who have battled injuries all season, are settled on a pitching rotation that mixes
Indalecio Romo and
Nick Przybylek as sure-fire Nos. 1-2. But since
Logan Roberts went down with a season-ending hip injury, the Tigers have used
Malik Evans,
Jhonbert Gonzalez and
Dexter Cline as the third starter.
DJ Wilson and
Jared Welander have been consistent out of the bullpen, which has been leaned upon heavily all season. CU's pitching staff ranks No. 24 in the NAIA with a team ERA of 3.60.
The Patriots are led by Chase Schmittou's .378 average – which ranks No. 2 in the Mid-South. He is trailed by Kevin Pantoja (.371) Jesse Reyes (.367) and Reed Spata (.361), who are fourth, sixth and eighth in the MSC.
Pantoja also leads the MSC in runs scored (49), triples (4) and hits (63). The Patriots also have three players with eight home runs – Landon Bryan, Pantoja and Bryan Benz.
Pitching has been a strong suit all season, especially with ace Noah Gapp. Boasting a 1.20 ERA in 11 starts and 9-2 record, Gapp leads the MSC in ERA (1.20), Innings pitched/game (7.49), hits allowed/game (5.79), strikeouts (93), innings pitched (82.1), opponent batting average (0.181), runs allowed (14), wins (9), and earned runs allowed (11).
Outside of Gapp, UC has Manny Castellano that enters the weekend with a 3.32 ERA and 6-2 record in 11 starts. The Patriots' third starter has switched between Colton Easterwood and Zach Hurley. Easterwood has made four starts, carries a 3-0 record and 2.12 ERA, while Hurley is 6-1 with eight starts and a 4.24 ERA.
To follow the Tigers throughout the weekend, check them out on Twitter - @CTigersBaseball and @CvilleTigers. Also online at CampbellsvilleTigers.com.
