One day after getting held to three runs by Lyon (Ark.) College - their lowest production in 10 games - the Lions exploded for a 17-run performance that included eight in the ninth inning alone in a 17-6 win over top-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.) University to survive and advance in the TranSouth Conference.

The game was an elimination game for FHU, which lost 10-3 to Lyon on Monday, but not for Cumberland in the six-team bracket. Cumberland defeated Martin Methodist (Tenn.) College, 8-6, in the tournament's first game.

The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead before the Lions recorded any outs in the bottom of the first after Max Kautz singled and Matt Holliman followed with a two-run blast off Freed-Hardeman starter Alan Barnett. But the senior retired the next three hitters and FHU made up the difference in the top of the third thanks to a two-run homerun by Leo Alvarez, extending his hitting streak to 16 games.

Cumberland, though, retook the lead in the bottom of the frame when a Barnett balk brought Kautz in from third, then added two more in the fourth on Kautz's two-out single that finished the day for Barnett. Javy Lopez entered in relief and fanned Holliman to end the inning, which turned out to be a sign of things to come from the big senior right-hander.

Lopez shut the door on the Bulldogs for the next three innings, allowing a harmless single in the sixth, while FHU's offense caught up to Cumberland ace Robert Post in the fifth. Johanny Ramirez led off the inning with his first homerun of the season, triggering a four-run inning that also saw Derek Bush leave the yard on a two-out, two-run shot that put the Lions ahead for good at 6-5.

FHU extended its lead with a run in the seventh thanks to a Brian Bullard solo homerun and two more in the eighth on a double from leadoff man Greg Allen. Cumberland's Michael Wheeler led off the bottom of the inning with a homerun of his own to cut the Lions' lead to 9-6, then got a runner to third with one out before Lopez retired the next two hitters to escape further damage.

The way it turned out, that runner would have meant nothing because the Lions poured on eight runs in the ninth to turn a relatively tight game into a blowout. Bullard hit his second homerun of the game in the inning to bring in FHU's final runs of the game.

Lopez (5-3) then retired the side to finish the game.

Freed-Hardeman took advantage of several Cumberland miscues. The Lions had six batters reach base on walks, three after being hit by a pitch, and three more on Bulldog errors. By contrast, neither Barnett nor Lopez walked a batter. Lopez allowed just two hits and one run in 5-1/3 innings while fanning four.

Allen, Alvarez, Bullard, and Noslen Labrada each recorded two hits for FHU. Bullard and Alvarez drove in three runs apiece, while five other Lions had two RBIs.

Freed-Hardeman has now taken three of four games from the TranSouth's top team and has feasted on Bulldog pitching, scoring a total of 54 runs in those games. The Lions will face off against No. 2 seed Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University in an elimination game tomorrow at 3:30 pm. TNU took two of three games earlier this season from FHU in Nashville.