Patriots Take The First Game Of The NAIA Tournament

Baseball | Mon, May 16, 2022 at 10:00 PM

Story Courtesy of Cumberlands Sports Information
Kingsport, TN- Patriots take care of business in their first game at the NAIA Opening Round against Warner, winning 4-2 in a pitchers dual. Big relief performances from Jake Kmiecik and Garrett DeClue notched the Pats their 44th win of the season.

Hunter Rigsby got the start and only pitched 1.0 innings. Kmiecik came in relief early to record the win as he pitched 5.0 innings scattering one run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. DeClue closed out the game pitching 3.0 innings while only allowing one hit with two strikeouts for his first save on the season.

Sean Cheely led the way offensively as he went 2-4, notching a double and a stolen base. Both Andres Rolon and Luis Alvarez had doubles of their own. Kevin Perez also notched a stolen base while courtesy running.

UC got on the board first as the scored two runs in their first at bat. Cheely led off with a double to left center. Two batters later, Charlie Muniz singled to left field and Perez came into run. A few plays later, the Pats pulled off a double steal as both Cheely and Perez moved into scoring position. Next, Ray Villanueva notched an RBI single towards the third baseman for the 1-0 lead. Then, with runners on the corners, there was a wild pitch allowing both runners to advance making the score 2-0.

In the bottom half of the first, the Royals cut the lead in half as they scored one run. Then after a couple scoreless innings, UC notched a run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Alvarez came away with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then Raphy Almanzar stepped up and notched an RBI single to center field to take the 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Warner scored their last run of the game. In the next few innings both teams threatened multiple times but could never get a run across. Then in the top of the eighth, UC was able to add an insurance run. Rolon led off with a double to left center and advanced to third a few plays later. Cheely then singled towards the shortstop for an RBI to take the 4-2 lead.

UC was able to hold the Royals scoreless in the next two at bats and take the 4-2 victory. The Pats play tomorrow at 2:30 pm and will take on the winner of game three.