NAIA Poll

Kanas City, MO – Patriots will start their season ranked 15 in the NAIA, as announced by national officials Wednesday morning. UC finished last season with a 46-16 record and a 18–6 record in conference play.

Last year the Pats were one game away from the NAIA World Series that was the closest they have gotten in program history. Along the way, Cumberlands had players lead statistical categories all year, which earned them high honors. There are some familiar names to look out for starting with First-Team All-American Charlie Muniz. Muniz led the team with a .418 batting average. Of his 92 hits, 21 were doubles and 19 were homeruns. Along with leading the team in hits, and homerun, he also came away 66 RBIs with 170 total bases. Then the reigning MSC Freshman of the Year Seth Benner hit .399 on the season last year. He came away with 16 doubles, three triples, and 12 homeruns. Benner also had 56 RBIs on the season. Next is Sujel Arias, from San Cristobal, DR. Arias had a .374 batting average of his hit 18 were doubles, three was triples, and 12 were homers. Arias also came away with 56 RBIs on his way to being named Second-Team All-Conference.

Defensively, the Patriots are returning a lot key player. Looking at the top of the list is Hunter Rigsby, he led the team in strikeouts last year with 87 in 61.0 innings. Rigsby only allowed 46 hits and had a 2.51 ERA. Raphy Almanzar was Second-Team All-Conference last season, and started all 62 games. He hit .354 on the year with 86 hits and 61 runs scored. The Bonao, DR native tallied 25 extra base hits and 56 RBIs along with 5 stolen bases. Also, Luis Alvarez was an All-Conference Honorable Mention honorary, as he hit .299 on the year with 43 hits and 39 runs scored. The Guayama, PR native notched 14 extra base hits and 21 RBIs along with 5 stolen bases, while putting in 13 multi hit games. 

Looking at the Mid-South Conference, Freed-Hardeman starts at RV and had a 39-17 record last year.

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