LEBANON, Tenn. – The Campbellsville University baseball team headed to #22 Cumberland University to combat the Phoenix Friday afternoon. The Tigers began their series with scorching bats to secure the 13-7 win. 

Alex Castaneda slammed the game's first pitch over the left-field wall to put the Tigers ahead. Mael Zan trotted to first on a walk, but Campbellsville made no further advancements. Cumberland strung together a few singles in the latter half of the inning to bring their first run across. The Phoenix articulated a couple more runs from a past ball and an RBI to knock the Tigers to a deficit. 

Campbellsville did not allow the Phoenix to extend their lead as they began to scratch back. Henry Wright walked to first and stood on second as Josiah Clark stepped into the batter's box. Clark homered over left field to collect a two-run RBI. Lorenzo Gonzalez followed suit with his own home run to push Campbellsville ahead. However, the Phoenix delivered a homer of their own to even the score at four runs. 

The bats continued to stay hot in the third inning. The Tigers loaded the bases with zero outs to begin the inning. Chad McCann used his base running skills and capitalized on a Phoenix error to take back the lead. Grant McQueary fouled out but exchanged his hit for an RBI as he batted in Zan. Clark doubled and scored his teammate to collect his third RBI of the contest. 

Both teams poised two runs each in the fourth inning. Jorge Gonzalez brought across Zan and himself with another homerun for the Tigers. Cumberland canceled these runs as they accumulated several singles to bring two runs across. 

The fifth inning was quiet; however, the sixth inning was not. Campbellsville's batters took pitches to earn first base. After an error, runners stood in scoring position. J. Gonzalez doubled down the right side of the field to score two more. Castaneda tacked another run in the seventh inning as his SAC fly out to the center fielder pushed in Clark. The Phoenix composed a solo homerun but could not dent their discrepancy. 

The Phoenix held the Tigers to a scoreless half-inning for only the second time in the competition in the eighth inning. Campbellsville tallied their fifth home run of the day as Jacob White sent a ball over the wall in the final inning. Cumberland returned to the dugout in a three-up-three-down last attempt. 

Campbellsville's offense surpassed that of the Phoenix. Twelve of the Tigers' 13 runs were products of RBIs. L. Gonzalez led his team with a .800, while J. Gonzalez and Clark followed closely, batting .600. Only two pitchers stood on the hill for Campbellsville. Zane Morrison and Ryan McFarland collected nine strikeouts and a .701 strike percentage. Cumberland fell short with a .638 strike percentage. 

The Tigers will continue their trek at Cumberland University to finish their three-game series tomorrow. Game one will begin at 1 p.m. ET with game two to follow.