NAIA Coaches' Poll- 2

Kansas City, MO – For the second straight NAIA Coaches' Poll, the Patriots find themselves as the #17 team earning 244 points, as announced by the National Office on Wednesday.

The #17 ranking ties UC's best ranking in program history and also marks the seventh straight poll, the Patriots have been mentioned, dating back to last season.

On the year, Cumberlands is 19-10, including five wins over teams currently in the poll. The Patriots are coming of a weekend where they took the season series against, #15 Georiga Gwinnett, winning two of three. In the Mid-South Conference, UC is boasting a 6-4 record where they rank in the top three for team stats in five categories including first for stolen bases (49) and second for ERA (2.31).

Leading the way offensively for the team is Maddie Sickau, who is batting .391, with eight doubles and 16 RBI. Emily Bryant paces the team in home runs with four and RBI, notching 21. Emily Jasper is fifth in the NAIA in stolen bases, swiping 27, just six away from her season best. Hailey Wood has also stolen 15 bases, marking them both as the top-two base stealers in the conference.

The pitching staff has kept some of the best offenses in the country at bay all season, limiting teams to just a combined 10 homers and 81 runs. Kaiti White has the lowest ERA among starters at 1.62, ranking her third in the MSC and Talli Burgess is right behind her in fifth with a 2.29 ERA. Burgess leads the team in K's, having fanned 50 batters this season. Kaci Goedde has come in for relief often and holds a 0.40 ERA and limiting hitters to a .197 batting average.

In the MSC, three teams are mentioned in the NAIA Poll, led by Freed-Hardeman at 3^rd, followed by Lindsey Wilson in 12^th with Cumberlands in 17^th.

Up next, UC will return to conference action on Friday, March 25 when they begin their series against Shawnee State, at home. The first game is slated for a 4PM start with live video found here and live stats here.

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