Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots are set to go to the NAIA tournament for the fourth time in five years. After finishing the season 43-14 and winning the Mid-South Title this past weekend, they are gearing up to head to Kingsport Bracket as a three seed.

Looking back at the season, the Pats won seven of their eight MSC series this year, with three sweeps. As a team, they set new program records. They set a new record for runs scored with 502 runs and hit with 648 hits. Of those hit there was 136 doubles, 17 triples, and 79 homeruns for a 1055 total bases. There is also a new record for RBIs as the Pats had 455 RBIs this season, while adding 93 stolen bases. The team also had a .343 batting average and a .558 slugging percentage. In addition, the team had 11 all-conference members. Seth Benner, Sean Cheely, Thomas Gutierrez, and Charlie Muniz all garnered first all-conference honors. While Raphy Almanzar, Sujel Arias, Candido Encarnacion, Hunter Rigsby, and Ray Villanueva won second team honor. Then Luis Alvarez and Braxton Cottongame earned honorable mention honors. The Patriots also had two gold glove winners in Cheely and Encarnacion. While Benner took home Freshman of the year, and Coach Jared Martin took home assistant coach of the year.

Now individually, freshman Muniz led the Patriots in seven stat categories. He batted a team high .429 for the year with 84 hits. He also led the Mid-South in homeruns with 18, while adding 155 total bases. Muniz also adding 60 RBIs and had a .791 slugging percentage. There is also a three-way tied between Muniz, Villanueva, and Arias for doubles at 17. Cheely was the leadoff guy for UC all year as he batted .324 notching 72 hits with 14 doubles, four triples eight homeruns, and 45 RBIs. He also leads the team, the Mid-South and is in fifth place in the NAIA with 42 stolen bases. That mark also puts him in second place in the Pats record book.

Almanzar put in a good year as he started all 57 games and had a batting average of .353, out of his 72 hits he tallied five homeruns and 16 doubles, along with five stolen bases. The first year first baseman Arias, also started all 57 games and batted .367 for the year. Out of his 79 hits, 10 were homeruns, three was triples, and 17 were doubles. The San Cristobal, DR native also batted in 48 runs and had four stolen bases. Encarnacion played in all 57 games and batted .309 for the season. Out of his 60 hits three were homeruns and 15 were doubles for 37 RBIs. The third baseman also put nabbed five stolen bases. While Villanueva earned his second straight all-conference honors as an outfielder for Cumberlands. He hit .323 on the season with 10 homeruns, 17 doubles, and 57 RBIs. Alvarez had a .325 batting average on the season with 10 doubles, two homeruns and 19 RBIs.

Now defensively, UC had as a team produced 438 strikeouts, eight complete games with seven shutouts and nine saves. The Patriots had a 4.62 ERA and limited opponents to a .273 batting average. Gutierrez led the team and MSC in wins with 9-1 record over his 14 appearances. He pitched 85.1 innings for an ERA of 4.54 with a 1.35 WHIP. The Los Angeles native had four complete games with three shutouts and 74 strikeouts for a .270 batting average against. Rigsby has been one of the Patriots top pitchers on the mound this season as he had the best ERA in the conference with a 2.40 in 60 innings pitched. He holds 3-1 record on the year with 10 starts and 12 appearances. Rigsby leads the team in strikeouts and the MSC with 84. Cottongame started 14 games with a 7-4 record overall. He has pitched 81.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA on the season. The Hazard, KY native has 48 strikeouts. Chipper Korbacher has been the Pats main closer as he has appeared in 18 games for 20.2 innings pitched. The Oceanside, CA native notched 24 strikeout and leads the team and Mid-South in saves with seven. He also notched two of his saves in the conference tournament.

The bracket is set, and will feature 1. Tennessee Wesleyan, 2. Warner, 3. Cumberlands, 4. Mount Vernon Nazarene, and 5. Madonna. UC will take on Warner University  May 16^th in the first matchup.

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