Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
LEBANON, Tenn. – Devin Stovall tossed a two-hit shutout in the second game, Josh McGee collected three hits and four RBIs in the doubleheader and Antonio Butler added three hits and scored three times in Cumberland’s doubleheader sweep against Blue Mountain, 7-2 and 8-0, on Saturday at Ernest L. Stockton Field-Woody Hunt Stadium.
The Bulldogs (26-21, 10-8 TranSouth) swept the three-game series against the Toppers (21-23, 7-11), outscoring the visitors 33-5. Cumberland pounded out 36 hits in the victories and limited BMC to 17 hits and just 15 baserunners in scoring position in the three contests.
Stovall (2-4) walked one and struck out seven in just his fifth start of the year, retiring the side in order four times. Blue Mountain never had more than one baserunner in an inning and only one reached third base and that came in the seventh.
Richie Seaton and McGee each hit three-run homers and Butler added a solo shot for the Bulldogs in the contest. McGee and Cody Ferrell each had two hits and McGee scored twice as well.
Blue Mountain starter John Paul Barber (4-6) took the loss, giving up eight runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
Mike Mandarino (7-2) allowed two runs on eight hits for the Bulldogs in his seventh complete game of the year in the opener. The righthander walked two and struck out five and has pitched at least seven innings in five of his last six outings.
BMC starter Blake Jolly (5-6) took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in six innings. He walked two, hit two batters and struck out one.
Butler collected two hits and scored twice, Cory Urquhart added two hits and Sam Lind and Tyler Wheeler each posted two RBIs.
The Bulldogs got on the board first in the opener after Butler led off with a double to leftcenter and Urquhart followed with a single, putting runners on the corners. Lind’s deep fly ball to center plated Butler for the early lead.
In the third Lind walked and Mandarino followed with a double to rightcenter, driving home Lind. McGee’s two-out single to left plated pinch-runner Ryan Critchelow for a 3-0 CU advantage.
Gardner Richey belted a solo homer to rightcenter to leadoff the fourth for the Toppers, his 10th of the season.
But the Bulldogs answered in the bottom of the inning when Butler singled to left, stole second and scored on Lind’s two-out double down the leftfield line.
Blue Mountain took advantage of a two-out error to score in the fifth.
Seth Kennedy singled up the middle before McGee booted a grounder off the bat of Richey, opening the door for BMC. Nate Bell then singled to right, scoring a run. He went to second on a wild pitch, but Mandarino induced an inning-ending ground ball by Dalton Kulas with the Bulldogs holding a 4-2 lead.
CU came right back in the bottom of the inning, starting with doubles from Ferrell and Nick Sydnor. Wheeler then belted a two-run homer to right, his second of the year, for a 7-2 Bulldog advantage.
Cumberland started fast in the second game, with Butler leading off the first with a solo homer to down the leftfield line, his third of the year.
In the second McGee led off with a double and Sydnor walked before a run-scoring double from Wheeler. Richie Seaton then hit a three-run homer to right, his first of the season, for a 5-0 lead.
In the fifth Mandarino and Ferrell both singled with one out before McGee belted a three-run homer to right for his fourth home run of the year and an 8-0 advantage.
Cumberland plays at Campbellsville University on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and travels to rival Trevecca Nazarene for a three-game series next weekend.