LEBANON, Tenn. – The Campbellsville Tigers baseball team continued their campaign at Cumberland University for the last two games of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers fell to the Phoenix in seven innings in both games.
Game One: Campbellsville 10, Cumberland 11
Jorge Gonzalez singled through the right side to start the ball game for the Tigers. Gonzalez advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch but was left stranded on base. The Tigers and the Phoenix had multiple three up, three down innings before Jorge Gonzalez reached base via walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt laid by Noah Amenta in the fourth inning. Jacob White sent a pitch over the left field fence for a two-run home run. Eddy Arteaga also bunted to reach base. Logan Verble came in to pinch run for Arteaga and Josiah Clark reached first base on an infield error which advanced Verble into scoring position. With Verble and Clark on base, Grant McQueary sent a pitch over the right field fence for a three-run home run. Kevin Whitaker singled to right field but was left on base. With all that offense, the Tigers took a five-run lead over the Phoenix.
Amenta doubled down the left field line to reach base to start the fifth inning and Sam Fagerness came in to pinch run for Amenta. In the bottom of the inning, Joshua Lambert came in to relieve Brady Tedesco on the mound. Tedesco struck out five batters, allowed just four hits and no runs. With two runners on, the Phoenix hit a three-run home run to left center. The Phoenix cut the Tigers' lead to just two runs. With two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Cameron Castaneda hit a home run over the left field fence and gave the Tigers a three-run advantage. Deshawn Welch came in to pitch for the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning.
Samio Uze singled to right field to begin the seventh inning. Jorge Gonzalez doubled down the left field line and scored Uze. Amenta was given free bases after being hit by a pitch. Arteaga reached base via walk and advanced both Jorge Gonzalez and Amenta up a base. Verble came in to pinch run for Arteaga. Kye Seitz entered to pinch hit and was hit by a pitch pushing Jorge Gonzalez home. At that point, Lorenzo Gonzalez came in to pinch run for Kye Seitz. Cameron Castaneda singled to right field and scored Amenta and Verble. The Tigers took a 10-3 lead over the Phoenix. After the Phoenix added two more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh inning, Mason Lee came to the mound to relieve Welch. On a wild pitch, the Phoenix sent a runner across the plate. Once two more runners made their way around the bases for the Phoenix, Ryan McFarland came in to pitch for the Tigers. With the bases loaded, the Phoenix singled down the right side and scored two more runs to tie the game at 10-10. With the bases loaded after an intentional walk, the Phoenix sent a pitch to right center field to score the winning run of the ball game. The Tigers fell to the Phoenix, 11-10.
The Tigers had 10 total hits: Jorge Gonzalez and Cameron Castaneda with two each. The Tigers had five different pitchers with a combined total 166 pitches with a .608 strike percentage.
Game Two: Campbellsville 5, Cumberland 16
Amenta was given free bases after being hit by a pitch but was left on base to start the first inning. To begin the second inning, Arteaga singled to right field to reach base. Verble came in to pinch run for Arteaga. McQueary reached base via walk and advanced Verble to second base. Cameron Castaneda also reached base off a walk and advanced Verble and Grant into scoring position. Whitaker reached base on an infield error and scored Verble. Uze reached base on a fielder's choice to leave the bases loaded. Jorge Gonzalez doubled to left center and scored Cameron Castaneda and Whitaker. The Tigers took a three-run advantage over the Phoenix going into the bottom half of the second inning.
White started the third inning with a single to left field. Arteaga reached base off a walk and advanced White to second base. Verble came in to pinch run for Arteaga. McQueary doubled down the right field line to score White and advance Verble to third base. Chad McCann reached base on a walk. Cameron Castaneda singled to shortstop to advance McQueary and McCann and score Verble. Whitaker landed on base from a fielder's choice which had the bases full. McCann, Castaneda, and Whitaker were left on base. In the bottom half of the third inning, the Phoenix scored four runs to cut the Tigers' advantage to just one run.
To begin the fourth inning, White reached base after being walked. Arteaga reached first base off an infield error and White advanced to second base. Fagerness came in to pinch run for Arteaga. White was caught stealing to go into the bottom half of the inning. Then, Luis Lopez came in to relieve Zack Bromstead at the mound. The Phoenix capitalized on errors from the Tigers to send three more runners across the plate in the fourth inning and took a two-run lead.
During the fifth inning, the Tigers couldn't find their way around the bases but the Phoenix had no problem scoring four more runs. McFarland came into the mound for the Tigers. The Phoenix added two more runs to the scoreboard before the end of the inning. Amenta was given free bases after being walked to start the sixth inning. Amenta was left on base to go into the bottom half of the inning. The Phoenix sent three more runners around the bases to take an 11-run lead over the Tigers.
During the seventh inning, McCann singled through the left side to reach base. Fagerness came in to pinch hit and reached base via walk. McCann and Fagerness were left on base to end the ball game. The Tigers fell to the Phoenix in seven innings, 16-5.
The Tigers had six total hits: each hit from a different player. The Tigers had three different pitchers for a total of 140 thrown pitches and a .621 strike percentage.
The Tigers are scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday at HIG Baseball Field in Campbellsville, Kentucky to take on Brescia University. The game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET.
