Struggling CU succumbs to Indiana SE

On the heels of dropping 2 of 3 TranSouth Conference games over the weekend at Lyon, Cumberland fell to visiting Indiana Southeast 7-5 Monday at Woody Hunt Stadium.
Playing a lineup of players who had gotten little playing time this season, Cumberland fell behind 3-1 in the third inning as the visitors jumped in front of Wilson Central sophomore James Parker, who pitched the first five innings to take the loss. The right-hander was charged with five runs [three earned] on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Four Bulldogs – Kevin Bufford, Ryan Gregory, Central sophomore Matt Burton and Jeremiah McElwain – each worked an inning as CU, which fell out of the NAIA top 25 to No. 26 last week, slipped to 20-13-1 for the season.
Freshman Kyle Deering and sophomore Jeremy Wilson each drove in two runs on three hits. Wilson hit RBI doubles in the third and eighth innings. Deering, who scored three times, doubled and scored on Wilson's double in the eighth and hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
Cumberland will bus to Jefferson City in East Tennessee on Wednesday for a 1 p.m. game against NCAA Division II Carson-Newman.
The Bulldogs were coming off their series in Batesville, Ark. They won the opener of Saturday's double header 15-3 before No. 14 Lyon scored in the bottom of the seventh to win 2-1 in the nightcap. The Scots also won in their last at-bat Sunday, getting two runs on the bottom of the 10th to prevail 9-8 at Scots Field.
Lyon climbed to 24-5 for the season and 7-5 in the TranSouth Conference, trailing first-place Trevecca [11-1] and second-place CU [8-4].
Cumberland 15, Lyon 3
The Bulldogs sent 10 runners across the plate in the third inning to send Robert Clayton [6-1] to an easy victory. The junior right-hander allowed three hits, one of which was Nick Salahub's three-run homer in the second inning, and a walk in the five-inning game.
Cumberland clubbed 15 hits against five Scot pitchers. Eric Mull drove in four runs on his 12th homer in the first inning and ninth double in the third. James Lilley lashed a two-run homer in the third and finished with three hits. Courtney Propst poked a two-run single in the second. Jason Bush hit a sacrifice fly in the third and RBI single in the fifth. Austin Morgan, Clint Alexander, Luis Martinez and Kyle West also drove in a run apiece.
Martinez managed three hits while Propst picked up two.
Lyon 2, Cumberland 1
Justin Brown doubled and scored the winning run on Brent Moss' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Left-hander Zach Whitmer had allowed three hits through six innings before Brown's double. He left one out later for Friendship Christian senior Adam Tomlinson, who surrendered the walk-off flyout. Whitmer [2-3] walked three and struck out nine.
But Lyon's Jerry Farina improved to 6-1 with four hits and two walks allowed with five strikeouts.
Mull's 13th home run tied the score 1-1 in the top of the sixth.
Andy Wahl's first-inning RBI single lifted Lyon to a 1-0 lead.
Lyon 9, Cumberland 8 [10 innings]
Wahl's bases-loaded walk off Myles Anderson [3-2] in the 10th lifted Lyon to victory. Andy Schatzley opened the inning with a home run to tie the score.
Cumberland went up 8-7 in the top of the 10th as Wilson singled and scored on Morgan's single.
Lyon scored twice off Tomlinson in the bottom of the ninth. A walk, a hit batter and a single loaded the bases for Brown's bases-loaded free pass. Salahub's fielder's choice grounder tied the score.
Aaron Tant tossed five innings of relief for starter Anthony Fomasi, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Fomasi fired the first three frames, surrendering three runs on six hits.
Cumberland led 2-0 after two innings before Lyon took the lead with three in the third. The Bulldogs answered with two in the fourth to go back up 4-3. The teams traded two-spots in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh to send CU into the bottom of the ninth up 7-5.
Andy Bettis hit a two-run homer in the Lyon sixth. Brown, Salahub and Moss also drove in two runs apiece as the Scots swatted 10 hits.
Cumberland clubbed 16 safeties, including three each by Propst, Lilley and Wilson. Wilson drove in three runs and Morgan two.
Propst tripled and scored on Morgan's groundout in the first. Lilley singled, stole second and scored on Wilson's single up the middle in the third. Wilson singled home two runs in the fourth and scored on Propst's groundout in the sixth.
Mull, who had a pair of hits, singled and scored on Martinez's single in the seventh. Martinez came home on Bush's foulout to first.