Williamsburg, KY – The No. 2 seeded Patriots opened the NAIA Opening Round with a thrilling 8-7 walk-off victory over No. 3 seed Mid-America Nazarene on Monday evening at Doyle Buhl Stadium. Trent Prokes delivered an RBI-single up the middle to score Derick Andiarena from second base and send UC to the winner's bracket.
 
Kailen Hamson got the start on the mound for UC and recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts. The left-handed pitcher from Australia pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits. JD Price pitched one inning in relief, giving up two runs on two hits with one strikeout. Cooper Morgan (4-1) was credited with the win after collecting five strikeouts while retiring all eight batters he faced across 2.2 innings of work.
 
At the plate, Derick Andiarena led the way with a 3-for-5 performance, notching a home run and three RBI's. Trent Prokes was the hero in this one, batting 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI. Pedro Vasquez batted 1-for-5 with a home run and two runs batted in.
 
After a scoreless opening frame, Cumberlands jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a Pedro Vasquez solo home run, his tenth of the season.
 
The Pioneers responded quickly with a run in the top of the third to even the score at 1-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, UC regained the lead at 3-1 with two runs on two hits. Charlie Muniz led off the inning with a single, then was pinch ran for by Zamaurion Hatcher. Next at-bat, Andiarena blasted a two-run homer to center field, his 12^th of the season.
 
Once again, Mid-America Nazarene had a response, this time scoring three runs in the sixth inning to take their first lead of the day at 4-3.
 
Cumberlands was able to get a run back in the bottom of the frame on an Alec Gonzalez RBI-single up the middle to tie the game at 4-4.
 
In the top half of the seventh, the Pioneers plated three runs on a home run to take a 7-4 advantage.
 
The Patriots did not panic in their next at-bat. Christian Thompson began the inning with a single, followed by a Muniz walk to put two runners on base quickly. Next at-bat, Andiarena singled through the right side to score Thompson from second and the cut the deficit to 7-5. Max Harper kept the train moving with a single of his own to load the bases with nobody out. After the first out was recorded, Vasquez reached first on an error to bring in a run to make it a 7-6 ballgame. Edwin Martinez was able to tie the game once again at 7-7 following an RBI-ground out.
 
After two scoreless frames, the Patriots entered their first extra inning game of the season. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Martinez put himself into scoring position after reaching first on an error and advancing to second. With one out, Trent Prokes delivered a clutch RBI-single to center field, plating Martinez in a close play at the plate and sending the Pats to the winner's bracket with an 8-7 win.
 
The No. 2 seeded Patriots will face the winner of Northwestern Ohio/Missouri Baptist on Tuesday May 13^th at 5 p.m. ET, in game four of the NAIA Opening Round Williamsburg bracket.
 
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