LEBANON, Tenn. -- Nate Maliska connected for two doubles as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate and Mitchell Thomas collected a pair of walks, but Cumberland University (Tenn.) pulled away early from the University of St. Francis baseball team, scoring a 10-7 victory on Friday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints trailed 8-0 when Maliska recorded his first hit of the game and later scored in the third inning to help pull USF to within 8-2.  Cumberland, however, opened the floodgates in the fourth inning when the Phoenix (5-3) authored their second homerun of the game widening their advantage to 9-2.

Maliska again sparked the USF offense in the fifth frame accounting for both Saint runs via a RBI double and a run scored before capping off the Saints' scoring in their three-run sixth inning with his second RBI double of the day to mark the score at 9-7.

Cohl Proctor led the 13-hit attack for the hosts, who would go on to score one more time in the eighth inning.  He went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in.  Gaines Haussin drove in four runs on three hits.

Jake Merda and Hayden Host were the only other Saints to register a hit while seven different Saints coaxed a walk amongst USF's eight total in the contest.

Up Next
The Saints wrap up their four-game set against the Phoenix on Saturday (Feb. 14) with an 11 am matchup at Woody Hunt Stadium.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.