LEBANON, Tenn. – Jake Collier threw seven strong innings and Curtis Hoppe got the final six outs in the opener but David Groh’s two-out, two-run single in the final inning helped the University of the Cumberlands win the second game and split a Mid-South Conference doubleheader on Monday in Williamsburg, Ky.

Conor Dishman drove in a pair of runs in a three-run third inning and Justin Byrd scored twice in the 5-2 Bulldog victory. Collier (2-2) allowed just five hits and one earned run in seven innings of work, walking two and striking out two. Hoppe worked around two walks and an error in the final two innings for his first career save.

Cameron Smith (1-3) suffered the loss for the Cumberlands, allowing four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

Stone Osborne’s solo homer tied the second contest at one in the third inning and it was still that way into the seventh before Cumberland (6-15, 2-1 Mid-South) loaded the bases with no outs. Pinch-runner Zach Cole scored on a wild pitch, but a pair of groundouts and a caught stealing on a double steal limited CU to just one run.

The Patriots (9-8, 1-2) got two singles sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt against CU starter Stephen Fischer. Hoppe tried to close out the second game as well, striking out William Rogers, but Groh’s ground ball through the left side plated the tying and winning runs to salvage the final game of the series for the home team.

Fischer (1-5) suffered the tough-luck loss, allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Cumberland managed just four hits in the loss, stranding just three, while the Patriots left 11 runners on base in the contest, including two in each of the first three innings.

UC starter TJ Campbell tossed six-plus innings, giving up one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts. Anthony Webster (1-1) tossed the final inning for the win.

Byrd tripled to leadoff the first game of the doubleheader and scored in Hector Viera’s one-out single to left for a quick 1-0 edge.

The Patriots knotted the score in the second when Jose Alonzo reached on an error by shortstop Viera. He moved to second on a groundout by Jake Goodman and scored on Lucas Bagnara’s single to leftcenter. Collier got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 doubleplay, beginning a string of 10 consecutive batters retired.

CU added three more runs in the third, starting with a leadoff single from Phil Stiles and a one-out walk to Ryan Dickison. Tyler Alford single to right, loading the bases, before Dishman’s two-run double to left. Richard Carter followed with a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 Cumberland advantage.

Viera’s second error of the game allowed UC’s Reed Spata to reach to start the sixth inning, but he was picked off. Luis Hernandez walked and Jesse Reyes singled, both with one out, but Dickison caught Osborne’s fly ball and gunned down Hernandez at third to end the inning.

In the seventh Alonzo and Goodman both singled to leadoff before an error on Dishman loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Rogers cut the Bulldog lead to 4-2, but after another walk, Spata popped out and Hernandez fouled out to end the inning without any further damage.

Cumberland added an insurance run in the ninth when Byrd walked and stole second. He went to third on a single by Stiles and scored on Dickison’s sac fly to left for a 5-2 advantage.

The Bulldogs scored again in the first inning of the second game, with Byrd walking and stealing second before coming around to score on Viera’s double to centerfield. Campbell retired 16 of the next 18 hitters he faced after Viera’s double, interrupted by singles from Viera in the fourth and Stiles in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Fischer was in-and-out of trouble the whole contest, working around an error and a single in the first and second innings. Osborne’s one-out solo homer in the third tied the contest, but a walk and a single later in the frame stranded two more for the Patriots.

Hernandez’s single was the only UC runner in the fourth, but another walk and single in the fifth left two more on in the fifth for the home team.

In the seventh Dickison led off with a single and pinch-runner Brian Conn took second on a wild pitch. Alford reached on an error by first baseman Goodman, putting runners on the corners, and after Cole stole second, pinch-hitter Carter was intentionally walked, loading the bases.

Webster got a ground ball from Dishman to force out Conn at the plate, but Cole scored on the wild pitch. Carter was tagged out at the plate on a grounder to third by Ryan Simmons and Timothy Smith ended the inning when he was thrown out trying to execute the double steal.

Reyes started the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle and Osborne bunted the runner to second. Goodman’s single to right put runners on the corners and ended the day for Fischer.

Hoppe walked Bagnara, loading the bases, but then struck out Rogers for the second out. Groh hit the 0-1 pitch into leftfield, scoring the tying and winning runs for the 3-2 Patriots win.

Cumberland is off until a three-game series at home this Friday and Saturday against St. Catharine College at Ernest L. Stockton Field-Woody Hunt Stadium.