LEBANON, Tenn. – Cumberland scored six runs in the second inning and never looked back offensively and Stephen Fischer posted his sixth victory with seven innings of one-hit baseball in an 11-1 victory over Shawnee State on Saturday at Ernest L. Stockton Field-Woody Hunt Stadium.

The Phoenix (15-11, 2-1 Mid-South) won the final two games to take the series with the Bears (9-14, 1-2) on the opening weekend of conference play.

Fischer (6-0) retired the first nine batters of the game and 10 of the last 11, running into trouble in the fourth after an error, a walk and a hit batter. Conner Wilson’s RBI single plated Shawnee State’s only run and was the only hit of the contest for the Bears. The righthander walked two and struck out four in his fifth complete game of the season.

Nick McGrew, Gabe Lares and Josh Croft each collected two hits and two RBIs and Lares, Ryan Simmons and Bo Saunders all scored twice for the Phoenix. Mike Melendez added two hits and Ryan Dickison drove in two runs as well. Cumberland banged out 29 hits in the final two games of the series after posting just four in the opener.

SSU starter Mike Watson (1-2) suffered the loss, giving up eight runs, four earned, on nine hits in 3.1 innings.

Cumberland took control of the game early with six runs on six hits and one Bears error in the second inning.

Melendez singled to right to leadoff and Dickison followed with an RBI triple to leftcenter. Mitch Langer then singled to left for a 2-0 lead.

Jarrett Plunkett reached on a throwing error by SSU second baseman Andrew Vanthournout and a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners. Kyle Allen’s sacrifice fly plated Langer and McGrew’s single to rightcenter scored scored Simmons.

The Phoenix were not done though, with McGrew taking second on a wild pitch and coming across on a single down the leftfield line by Lares. The first of Croft’s two doubles in the contest pushed across Lares for a 6-0 advantage.

Shawnee State got its run in the fourth when Zach Freeman reached on an error by Croft at second baseman to start the frame, though Freeman was caught stealing for just the second time all season by Allen.

Fischer then walked Vanthournout and hit Brandon Reaman, giving the Bears their first runner in scoring position. Wilson delivered a two-out single up the middle to score Vanthournout, but Cumberland came right back in the bottom of the inning.

Allen led off with a walk and McGrew reached on a bunt single, though McGrew was thrown out trying to steal second. Lares then drew a free pass and Croft doubled down the rightfield line to score one run. Two batters later Dickison’s sac fly plated Lares for an 8-1 lead.

In the fifth Plunkett doubled down the leftfield line and Simmons reached on an infield single before the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Allen walked to load the bases and one run came across on an error by Freeman at shortstop and a sac fly by Lares plated the final run of the game.

Cumberland plays at Brescia University on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and returns home next weekend to face the University of Pikeville in a three-game series.