LEBANON, Tenn. – Following their conference bye-week, the Campbellsville Tigers hit the road for an away series against the Cumberland Phoenix on Monday, April 7th. The Tigers set the tone with a 3-2 victory in game one.

On the mound for the Tigers was Garrett Maloney, making his eighth start of the season. With both teams throwing their aces, Maloney knew his work was cut out for himself and needed to shut down the Phoenix's offense. After the Tigers were retired in order to start the game, Maloney responded by doing the same to the Phoenix.

​With Maloney on his A-game, the Tigers' offense looked to score early. In the top of the second inning, Antony Gilbert roped a double down the left-field line for the first hit of the game. With one out, Tanner Park came up clutch and scored Gilbert with a double of his own. Although Park advanced to third on a wild pitch, he was left stranded.

​Maloney returned to the mound in the bottom of the second inning, needing a big shut-down inning. The righty retired the side in order again while picking up his second strikeout.

​With the momentum on their side, the Tigers added on in the bottom of the third inning. Henry Wright left no doubt and demolished a leadoff bomb to left field for his sixth of the season. With two outs, Zane Skansi kept the inning alive with a double to right field, though he was left stranded.

​The Phoenix first base runner of the game came in the bottom of the third inning with a leadoff single. Maloney responded by retiring the next two men in order while picking up his third strikeout. A walk to the next batter gave the Phoenix a runner in scoring position, but Maloney bared down and escaped the inning with another strikeout.

​In the top of the fourth inning, Park collected his second hit of the game with a one-out infield single. Park was replaced at first base by Lorenzo Gonzalez, who hit into a fielder's choice. Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to capitalize.

​Maloney continued on the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Phoenix looking to cut into the lead. The righty retired the first two batters; and then back-to-back singles put the righty in trouble. With runners at first and second base, the third single in a row allowed the Phoenix to cash in a run. The throw from center field went to third base and allowed both runners to advance to scoring position, but Maloney escaped the jam with a ground ball to himself.

​Wright led off the top of the fifth inning with an infield single and then advanced to second on a groundout from Yosuke Fujie. With two outs, Wright stole third, though the Tigers were unable to bring him home.

​In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Phoenix aimed to build off their momentum. Although Maloney surrendered a leadoff single, the righty bared down and retired the next three men in order while picking up his fifth K.

​The Tigers' offense went quietly in the top of the sixth inning, bringing Maloney back out for the bottom half. The righty walked the leadoff man, but his defense backed him up with a 4-6-3 double play. As Maloney's pitch count was getting high, a single to left field forced the Tigers to go to their bullpen. PJ Ledesma took over on the mound, making his tenth appearance of the season. The lefty killed the Phoenix's potential momentum with a fly ball to right field.

​In need of insurance runs, Gonzalez led off the top of the seventh inning with a single up the middle. Trey Proctor pinch-ran for Gonzalez but was picked off at first base. With two outs, Wright and Fujie clutched up with back-to-back triples to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

​Ledesma continued on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, needing to hang a big zero for the Tigers. The lefty got the job done and retired the side in order while picking up a strikeout.

​The Tigers' offense couldn't get anything going in the top of the eighth inning, bringing Ledesma back to the mound for the bottom of the frame. The lefty stayed in his groove and recorded another 1-2-3 inning.

​Looking to add more insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning, Park found his way on with a leadoff walk and was pinch-run for by Proctor. Gonzalez reached safely after the first baseman bobbled his sac-bunt attempt, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Tate Wischnack pinch-ran for Gonzalez. Jonah Bachiu pinch-hit for Jaxson Grubbs and attempted another sac-bunt. The Phoenix hosed Proctor at third base on the attempt, then Wischnack and Bachiu advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. The Phoenix's pitcher stranded the runners, though, and the Tigers left the inning empty-handed.

​Ledesma returned to the mound with three outs to go to try and secure the victory. After striking out the leadoff man, the lefty plunked the next batter. With one out, a tailor-made double-play ball up the middle was bobbled and gave the Phoenix life. Ledesma retired the next batter with a fly ball to center field, keeping the runners at first and second base. Down to their final out, the Phoenix capitalized on the error with an RBI single to right field. Ledesma struck out the final batter and secured the victory.

​The Tigers won the game with three runs on nine hits with one error, and the Phoenix lost with two runs on seven hits with two errors.

​The Tigers will finish out the series with a double header tomorrow, April 8th. The games are set to begin at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET.

• The Tigers and Phoenix have been facing each other since 1989, playing over 100 times.
• Today's match-up resulted in the smallest margin of victory the Tigers have taken over the Phoenix.