Williamsburg, KY – The top-seeded Patriots (48-10) split a pair of games on Wednesday at the NAIA Opening Round, opening the day with a 12-4 victory over #4 seed Bryan before falling to #3 seed William Carey 13-11 in the championship at Doyle Buhl Stadium.
No. 1 Cumberlands Powers Past Bryan, 12-4
The Patriots used a pair of big innings to take control in a 12-4 win over Bryan to advance to the championship round.
Nolan Wilson earned the win, improving to 9-1 after tossing six innings while allowing three runs and striking out five.
JD Price picked up the save, closing out the final three innings.
Offensively, Cumberlands totaled 16 hits in the victory.
Johnboy Rittenhouse led the way with three hits and three RBI, while
Justin Veloz and
Derick Andiarena each collected multiple hits.
Pedro Vasquez added a home run and an RBI.
After falling behind early, UC answered with a four-run third inning. Rittenhouse delivered a two-RBI single to highlight the rally.
The Patriots broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs on six hits. RBI hits from Veloz, Andiarena, and Rittenhouse helped extend the lead to 10-1.
Cumberlands added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings to secure the 12-4 victory.
No. 1 Cumberlands Falls to William Carey, 13-11
In the championship game, the Patriots came up short in a high-scoring battle, falling 13-11 to William Carey.
Cumberlands totaled 11 runs on 10 hits, highlighted by a big third and fourth inning.
UC erupted for six runs in the third inning, sparked by a three-run home run from
Ronald Almanzar. S. De La Cruz added a two-RBI double to give the Patriots a 6-2 lead.
The Patriots continued to build on that momentum in the fourth.
Derick Andiarena launched a solo home run before
Caden Petrey added a two-run shot to extend the lead to 9-2.
After William Carey chipped away, Cumberlands added another run in the sixth on a solo home run from Almanzar to make it 10-2.
However, William Carey mounted a massive comeback in the eighth inning, scoring 10 runs to take a 12-10 lead.
The Patriots attempted a late rally, cutting the deficit to 13-11 in the ninth on a solo home run from Petrey, but were unable to complete the comeback.
The Patriots end the 2026 season with 48-10 record and captured both the MSC Regular Season and Tournament titles. Cumberlands was ranked fifth in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll. This also ends a remarkable coaching career for Head Coach
Brad Shelton who ends his career with his final game being played at Doyle Buhl Stadium.
Coach Shelton led the Patriots for 25 seasons and took UC to the NAIA World Series for three conesecutive seasons. Shelton is also a 8x Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year. Shelton arrived on campus at UC in the fall of 2001, inheriting a team that was 7-34 in the previous season. Shelton directed the team to a 34-29 record in 2002. This was the biggest turnaround in college baseball (+27 victories) at any level in 2002. Over the past 21 seasons, the Patriots have become a consistent winner, playing a competitive schedule including some of the top teams in the NAIA.
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