Williamsburg, KY – Head Coach
Brad Shelton and the Patriots have a 60-game lineup for this season as they look to capture their fourth straight Mid-South Conference regular season championship.
Last season UC went 46-8, with a 16-4 conference record. Cumberlands won both MSC regular season championship, as well as the MSC Tournament Championship for the second time in program history and the first since the 2004 season. The Patriots advanced to the NAIA Opening Round for the fourth straight year and hosted for the third time in program history.
Coach
Brad Shelton said, "This season we wanted to put a schedule together that will help us in terms of competition and get us ready for the postseason but will also help us with the Bo Chip power rankings."
Coach Shelton did just that, as UC will have 20 games against teams that has played in the NAIA World Series over the past four seasons. Three of those teams (Georgia Gwinnett, Tennessee Wesleyan, and IU Southeast) are currently in the NAIA top-10 and one is receiving votes according to the NAIA Preseason Poll.
The Pats open the month of February with an eight-game home stand. UC host Cincinnati-Clermont four times with two games on both the 5
th & 6
th to open the season. The following weekend, Cumberlands will face Saint Francis in a four-game series. Saint Francis was a 30-win team last year and will be an early test for UC.
Then on the 18
th & 19
th, the Patriots head down to Georgia to have a four-game series against Point University. Cumberlands then returns home for the rest of February with a doubleheader against Union on the 22
nd.
Cumberlands closes out the month with Mid-South Conference action as they host Tennessee Southern for a three-game series with one game on the 25
th and two on the 26
th. UC won all three games last season against them and will look to repeat that success this year.
March starts with five-games against teams ranked in the NAIA Coaches' Poll. Starting with an away game against fifth-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan on the 2
nd, followed by a three game home series on the 4
th & 5
th against (RV) Freed-Hardeman, who they beat last season to win the MSC Tournament. Then on the 8
th UC will take on seventh-ranked Indiana Southeast.
Cumberlands will then start a 10-game road trip, starting in Tennessee with a three-game series against Cumberland on the 11
th and 12
th, before traveling east for doubleheader against Milligan three days later. The next day, UC heads back to the Bluegrass State for a two-game series against Lindsey Wilson. That weekend they go back to Tennessee for a three-game series at Bethel to end the road trip.
The Patriots return home on March 22
nd for a doubleheader against Midway. That weekend on the 25
th & 26
th Cumberlands will host top-ranked ranked Georgia Gwinnett, who won the NAIA Tournament last year for a three-game series. UC won last year's matchup against the Grizzles 8-6 in Georgia. To end March, Tennessee Wesleyan comes to visit for a one game matchup on the 29
th.
UC will celebrate April Fools weekend in Campbellsville, KY, taking on the Tigers for three games. Then the Patriots are slated for a nine-game home stint with two-games on the 6
th against Alice Lloyd, followed by three-games against Shawnee State on the 8
th and 9
th, then doubleheaders against both Union and Milligan on the 12
th and 13
th.
That leads to a three-game series on the 15
th and 16
th at Pikeville, and UC will look to add to their 13-game win streak against the Bears. The Pats stay on the road as they go visit Midway on the 19
th, before facing Alice Lloyd one day later. UC rounds out the regular season with a three-game series at home against Georgetown on the 22
nd and 23
rd, before closing out the regular season on the 26
th in New Albany, IN against Indiana Southeast.
The Mid-South Tournament will be in Bowling Green, KY at the Bowling Green Ball Park on April 29
th – May 8
th. The champion and runner-up will get automatic bids to the NAIA tournament. The NAIA Opening round will start on May 16
th, then the World Series will be from May 27
th – June 3
rd at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho.
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