Cumberland plays Lindsey Wilson again today in play-in game

May 1—BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Cumberland finished the regular baseball season as the No. 7 seed and will play 6-seed Lindsey Wilson in a Mid-South Conference single elimination game today.

Cumberlands (Ky.) is the top seed in the conference tournament after capturing the MSC regular-season championship with a 17-1 conference record and a 44-6 overall record.

The tournament gets underway today at Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Ky. Sixth-seeded Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (20-18, 8-16) and No. 7 seed Cumberland (18-24, 5-13) get the tournament underway with a single elimination game at 4:30 p.m.

Lindsey Wilson earned the six seed over Cumberland winning the season series 2-1.

The double-elimination bracket begins on Thursday with top-seeded Cumberlands taking on the Lindsey Wilson/Cumberland winner at 11 a.m.

Second-seeded Bethel (Tenn.) (30-12, 10-8) takes on fifth-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) (22-19, 7-11 at 2:30 p.m. Third-seeded Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (30-16-1, 10-8) takes on No. 4 seed Georgetown (Ky.) (28-21, 9-9) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Bethel earned the No. 2 seed over Freed-Hardeman by having the head-to-head tiebreaker winning the season series 2-1.

Friday begins with an elimination game at 11 a.m. CT with the loser of the Cumberlands game taking on the Bethel/Campbellsville loser. The Cumberlands winner will face the Freed-Hardeman/Georgetown loser at 2:30 p.m. The Bethel/Campbellsville winner takes on the Freed-Hardeman/Georgetown winner at 6 p.m.

The winner's bracket final takes place on Saturday at 11 a.m.m, followed by the elimination bracket semifinal and final at 2:30 and 6 p.m.

Sunday's championship game is scheduled for noon with the if-necessary game to follow.

The MSC tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid into the NAIA national tournament.

Triplett earns Mid-South Conference weekly honors

Cumberland's Dee Triplett was named Mid-South Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season, announced by the conference officen Monday.

Triplett had a big week for the Phoenix hitting .529 in four games with five homers and nine runs batted in. The senior from Malden, Mo., collected nine hits with seven of them going for extra bases.

Triplett started his week blasting two home runs in a game against No. 9 Reinhardt in a 3-for-4 outing. He went 2-for-4 in the first game of the weekend against Lindsey Wilson with one homer and drove in all three runs. Hebacked that on senior day with a 2-for-4 game one with a double and went 2-for-5 with two more homers in the finale.

This is Triplett's second time this season and in his career earning Mid-South Conference weekly honors.

Phoenix cap Senior Day with 22-2 win blasting seven homers

Cumberland capped Senior Day with seven home runs in game two winning 22-2 after 16 seniors were honored between games at Woody Hunt Stadium/Ernest L. Stockton Field.

Jonathan Phipps was the story of game one as the Lindsey Wilson right-hander shut out the Phoenix tossing a complete game. Phipps went the distance scattering six Cumberland hits and working out jams in several innings. He struck out five batters in the outing.

Cumberland could not get the big hit with runners on all game stranding 10 runners in the game. Javy Beal went 2-for-3 with two singles and Dee Triplett went 2-for-4 with a double.

Ethan Torres started the game for Cumberland after giving up two infield singles, Andres Duran hit a single to left and Riley Light threw him out at the plate to keep the zero on the board.

Torres tossed a clean second and third inning before passing it on to Carter Rost out of the bullpen. Rost hit Duran to put him on first and with two outs Koby Wall delivered a triple in the right-center gap to put the Blue Raiders on the board.

In the fifth, Lindsey Eilson added a run on a solo shot from Matthew Schultz to extend the lead to 2-0 and send the Phoenix to the pen with Alex Smith.

Lindsey Wilson added one more run in the sixth as pinch-hitter Braxton Smith hit a solo shot to left for the 3-0 final.

Cumberland loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Brandon Boxer rolled into an inning-ending double play. The Phoenix got a two-out rally going in the seventh as Triplett singled and Light drew a free pass. But Preston Welchel hit a rocket at Lindsey Wilson first baseman Bryce Sidler to end the game.

Game two was a completely different story for the Phoenix as they jacked seven homers to salvage the final game of the series with a 22-2 win.

Triplett and Boxer both bopped two homers while Beal hit a grand slam. Ian Krump went 2-for-5 with a homer and a double. Seth Sweet-Chick finished 1-for-1 with a three-run homer, three walks and a hit-by-pitch.

The first hit in game two came in the third inning as Boxer hit a solo homer to left field to give the Phoenix their run of the day. Beal followed with a single up the middle and Krump hit a double to center to score Beal all the way from first. Krump came into score after a throwing error drawing a move with two outs to the bullpen. The new arm for Lindsey Wilson walked Sweet-Chick, Trenton Duchsherer and Boxer in order scoring one run. Beal stepped back up and on an 2-0 count hit a grand slam to balloon the lead to 9-0. Krump followed with a solo jack to left field for a 10-run inning.

Cumberland did not stop there adding four more runs in the gift. Light and Welchel each singled and Sweet-Chick blasted a ball over dead-center field. Two batters later, Boxer hit his second home run of the game for a 14-1 lead.

In the fifth, Krump and Tim Holyk each drew walks to start the inning and Triplett blasted a three-run home run to center. The Phoenix restarted the rally and Duchsherer drove in a run on an RBI-double. Peyton Grant singled home a run and one more came in on an odd play where the Lindsey Wilson first baseman caught the ball in play, but his momentum took him out of play pushing all the runners up a base for a 20-1 lead.

Cumberland added two more in the sixth on a solo shot from Triplett and a sac fly from Boxer for the final score of 22-2.

The Phoenix tossed six different arms in the game. Justin Boggs got the start and threw three hitless innings. Jake Green threw the fourth. Reid Madariaga threw the fifth going three up, three down with two strikeouts. Bracken Rice threw the sixth. Ian Schilling picked up the first out of the seventh and Trey McNeese finished the game getting the final two outs.

Blue Raiders take Friday game behind good pitching, 6-3

Cumberland dropped the first game of the series to Lindsey Wilson 6-3 last Friday behind good pitching performances from Cohen Achen and Glenn Simes for the Blue Raiders.

Lindsey Wilson (17-23, 4-12 MSC) got big outings from starter Achen and another four innings in relief from Simes. Achen threw the first five holding the Phoenix to just three hits and three runs on five strikeouts. Simes picked up a four inning save allowing just one hit with four punchouts.

Dee Triplett had a good day at the plate going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and an RBI double to drive in all of Cumberland's runs.

The Blue Raiders scored first in the second inning as Sam Gage singled to center. Patterson issued walks to load the bases. Koby Wall drove in one run with a single to right and the second came in to score on a wild pitch for 2-0 lead.

Chance Stayton led off the third inning with a solo shot to left center to add a run to the board.

To start the bottom of the third, Rafael Garcia reached on a controversial play, which ended up being ruled an error giving the Phoenix an extra at bat in the inning. Triplett took full advantage of the extra out hitting a two-run homer to get back in the game down by one, 3-2.

In the fifth, Brandon Boxer hit a one-out single to center and Triplett again delivered an RBI double off the right-center field wall scoring Boxer from first base to tie the game.

The Blue Raiders drew a walk and singled with nobody on to chase starter Anthony Patterson in the sixth. Quinlin Wiley checked in and allowed a single to the first batter he faced to load the bases. Wiley got two punchouts, but Matthew Schultz hit an infield single to short to bring in one. Steele wound up scoring on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-3 through six.

Glenn Simes checked in and shut down the Phoenix offense allowing one hit in the ninth inning to hold any chance of a Phoenix comeback.

Sam Gage hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth for the 6-3 final score.

Patterson suffered the loss in the game throwing 5-plus innings giving up six hits and five runs with 10 strikeouts. Wiley threw the final four, scattering seven hits and allowing one run on the homer while striking out eight.