Bat Cats Sweep Bears
PIKEVILLE, Ky. – After taking the series opener 3-1 Friday, the Bethel Wildcats completed a weekend sweep Saturday winning both games of their doubleheader in Pikeville. The sweep made the long bus trip back to McKenzie more enjoyable for the Cats who improved to 6-6 overall and 4-2 in the MSC. The Bears dropped to 8-16 and 1-5.
Using timely hitting and solid pitching, the Cats won game one 5-3. The Cats let their bats do the damage in the second game, pounding out 16 hits and winning 20-2.
Bethel took the lead in game one with an RBI single by J.T. Morgan in the second inning. UPIKE took the lead with a three run fourth inning. Bethel's Jacob Foster blasted a two-run homer in the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Later in the inning, the Wildcats garnered a 4-3 lead on an unearned run. The Cats added to the lead with an RBI single from Kendrick Osborne in the sixth. Brandon Armour pitched three scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.
Game two saw Bethel score three runs in the first. Foster homered again in the third to give the Cats a 4-0 margin. Bethel added four in the fourth and nine in the fifth to blow the game open. After UPIKE scored two runs in the sixth, Bethel answered with three in the seventh to win 20-2.
Eleven different Wildcats had hits in the game. Nine Wildcats drove in runs in the blowout. Foster, Beecham, and Jose Olmeda each drove in three runs. Wyatt McKee had two RBI's. Noah Miller, Morgan Bryan Catala, Ivan Vega and Hunter Hudson each drove in single runs.
David Baer picked up his second win of the season.
Bethel outscored UPIKE 28-6 in the three games.
Coach Rusty Thompson commented on the day and series. "We are extremely happy with the way we competed this entire weekend. Game one was a tight game, and we lost a lead in the middle innings but answered back quick with Jacob Foster's home run and tacked on a couple of more. Wyatt McKee pitched well and then Brandon Armour came out and slammed the door in the second half of the game. David Baer and Alexis Rodriguez did a great job in game two as well. I thought our pitching was really good overall this weekend. Offensively we battled in the first game of the day but in game two I felt we jumped out early and continued to apply pressure throughout the game. I was extremely happy with our offense in that game getting out ahead and putting it away."
Thompson added, "We have a lot of guys having to learn fast and we just want to be a little bit better each week. It's just a process and we know we still need to progress in ways but it was nice to see our team make some strides."
The Cats remain on the road with a single game at Blue Mountain Tuesday. The first pitch is schedule for 3 p.m.
Live stats:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220308_uvip.xml
Live video:
https://www.facebook.com/TheMountainSportsStreams