UPLAND, Ind.--Cumberland could not get a timely hit as the offense sputtered in the opener of the NAIA National Tournament losing to Taylor 3-2 and falling to the loser’s bracket.

Cumberland (35-14-1) will now have to battle their way out of the loser’s bracket with one loss sending the Phoenix home. Cumberland will play 5-seed Fisher tomorrow in a loser-out game. 

The Phoenix left 13 runners on base, went 3-for-20 with runners on, and 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Neither side scored a run after the second inning. 

Mitch Rogers had a shaky start at the beginning, but settled in to throw seven innings. He gave up five hits and allowed three runs in the loss. 

Matt Dukowski picked up the win for the Trojans throwing 5.2 innings scattering seven hits and giving up two runs. Jack Ross threw the final 3.1 innings giving up two hits, three strikeouts, and no runs for the save. 

Cumberland outhit Taylor in the game picking up nine hits, but none of them were timely. 

Juan Moreno led off the game with a double, but Ian Krump was punched out, the Trojans issued a free pass to Cole Turney and Dutkowski induced two flyball outs to leave a pair stranded. 

Camden Knepp and Kaleb Kolpien hit singles to start the game for the Trojans before Rogers lost command on the mound hitting the next batter and walking in a run before he settled in striking out two batters and Brayden Manning was called out after leaning into a pitch to get the Phoenix out of a jam trailing just 1-0 after the first. 

Chewy Sanders launched the first pitch of the inning over the left field wall to tie the game at 1-1. Tim Holyk drew a walk and Drew Dalton singled to center to put runners on first and second. Santrel Farmer dropped a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away to score Holyk from second base to give Cumberland a 2-1 lead going to the bottom of the second. 

Sam Gladd led off the bottom half with a game-tying home run. Rogers then walked two and hit a batter before walking in a run and giving the Trojans a 3-2 lead. 

In the top of the fourth, Holyk led off with a single and Farmer beat out a chopper. Morneo moved them both over, but pinch-hitter Jordan Coffey struck out to strand them in scoring position still trailing 3-2.

Mitch Rogers really settled in after the second throwing five scoreless innings to give the Phoenix bats an opportunity. 

On the flip side, Dutkowski matched him as well as reliever Jack Ross when he checked in at the bottom of the sixth.

In the seventh, Turney hit a one-out single and Triplett and Sanders walked to load the bases, but Ross struck out Holyk looking to end the threat and keep the game at 3-2. 

The Phoenix went down in order in the eighth and Matthew Jenkinson relieved Rogers in the eighth working a scoreless inning. 

Pinch-hitter Jacob Dukart went down swinging to lead off the ninth. The Trojans issued a third free pass to Turney to put the tying run on first with one-out. Hughes gave the ball a ride to center, but it was caught for out number two. Triplett kept the game alive with a single to left, but with two out and two on Sanders grounded into a 5-4 fielder’s choice to end the game. 

Cumberland will play tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time and 10:00 a.m. central time against Fisher College with the season on the line.