Williamsburg, KY – The road to Lewiston, Idaho and the AVISTA NAIA World Series begins on Monday, May 17. The Opening Round will be hosted in Williamsburg for the third time in program history, the Patriots will host LSU Shreveport, Reinhardt, Point Park and Mayville State.
 
Cumberlands qualified for their fourth-straight postseason appearance with being named a host site for the opening round. They also took one of the Mid-South Conference's automatic bids with their trip to the tournament finals, defeating Freed-Hardeman 11-10 on a walk-off homer for the tournament Trophy. The Patriots will be the number-one seed in the tournament bracket.
 
Bryan Leef has been a standout in his final season with the Patriots, leading the team with a .431 average and .973 slugging percentage through 52 games played. He has secured the program record for homeruns in a season and career with 27 and 56. Add hard hitters like Pedro Nazario, Brian Garcia and Candido Encarnacion into the mix, the Patriots have made a big impact at the plate with 478 runs scored, 439 batted in. Of the 439 hits this season, over half have been for extra bases, including 99 homers, second in program history for the team only to Cumberlands' 102 in 2019.
 
The Patriots have a steady rotation out of the bullpen as well through the year, consistently seeing wins all season for their fourth-straight 40-win campaign. Colton Easterwood has proven hard to hit against, taking the all-time program record with his 284th and 285th strikeout tossed in his outing at the MSC tournament. Thomas Gutierrez and Nathan Geissler have been on fire, both tallying 10 wins this season, which ranks eighth in the NAIA. Add in the 75 K's from Walter Hernandez, the Patriots have tallied just shy of 500 strikeouts this season with opposing bats hitting .242 against.
 
This will be the third time the Patriots have hosted the NAIA Opening Round in Williamsburg. The Patriots were the number-two seed in 2018, getting a win against Marian before dropping two games to Point Park and Bryan. A year later, the Patriots worked to be the top of the bracket, falling out of the tournament 2-2 overall. They won convincingly against Mobile and had a high-scoring thriller against Lyon, but dropped both games against Indiana Tech.
 
The tournament format will be a double-elimination bracket with three games played on Monday, three on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday. The full tournament bracket can be found here. Each day will begin at 12 PM eastern, game two happening at about 3:30 PM and the final games of the day being played at 7 PM. Fan attendance open to the public, admission will be taken at the gate of $10 per day or $20 for the entire tournament. For those not in attendance, live stats and broadcast will be courtesy of the UC Sports Network.
 
LSU Shreveport won the Red River Tournament over the weekend, sweeping their last five games to move to 40 wins this season. The team overall is one of the NAIA leaders with 170 stolen bases this season, led by Payton Robertson with 42, also batting in a team-lead 48 this season. As successful as they are on the basepath, the Pilots also find themselves in position at the plate to get on base, four players are hitting .393 or better for a team average of .333, led by Kody Kolb with his .426 average on 46 hits, batting in 40 with 21 hits for extra bases. Trent Sholders and Josh Fortenberry each tallied at least five wins for LSU Shreveport and no more than two losses. Sebastian Selway has the hot arm though, dealing 78 strikeouts from the hill.
 
Reinhardt closed out their season on a 4-9 run to move to 32-19 overall, 17-12 in the AAC. They received an at-large berth and will play LSU-Shreveport in their first game of the tournament. Andres Ugarte leads the Eagles with his .343 batting average on 49 hits, however it is Albert Mora who will look to slug some balls over the outfielders with 10 this season. Gianmarco Marcelletti also has 12 homers this season. Ehtan Foley and Daniel Dolensky both battle as the ace on the hill for Reinhardt, each with at least 6 wins. The pitching duo combine for 132 strikeouts this season as the Eagles allow opposing bats a .242 average.
 
Point Park is the only team competing in the Williamsburg Bracket that has made the trip to Williamsburg before, competing at Doyle Buhl Stadium back in 2018. The Patriots have also already played the Pioneers earlier this season at the Battle at Big League Camp, UC winning 11-5. The Pioneers will be the fourth seed in the bracket, so far 37-14 on the year. It has been Carlos Sanchez and Jouseph Renovales who have had themselves a very successful year at the plate, both batting over a .400 average. Ruben Ramirez has a 0.95 ERA on 66.2 innings pitched in 29 outing, collecting a 6-2 record. The Puerto Rican is on the verge of eclipsing the century mark on strikeouts tossed this season.
 
Rounding out the bracket, Mayville State will make the trip south from North Dakota for a chance in the NAIA postseason. The Comets enter the bracket 35-16 overall, 20-8 in the North Star with an automatic bid after winning their conference tournament. Leading their squad at the plate is Jared McCorrister, the first baseman hitting .295 this season on 59 hits, seven slugged over the outfield fence. In 12 games, Parker Stohr has put together a 6-1 record, delivering 80 strikeouts in 62.0 innings.
 
Tournament action begins on Monday, May 17 in Williamsburg. First pitch of the Mayville State-Point Park matchup will be at 12 PM eastern. The winner will face the Patriots later that night at 7 PM.
 
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