2004 University of the Cumberlands Baseball Wrap-Up

Two new school records, a regular season conference title, a conference tournament title, Conference player of the year, Conference pitcher of the year, Conference coach of the year, and every starting position player and five pitchers receiving first or second team conference honors. For Coach Brad Shelton and the rest of the University of the Cumberlands baseball team, the 2003-2004 season has been quite exciting. With a roster full of talent, the Patriots etched their names twice into the record books at University of the Cumberlands. Finishing the regular season with a win-loss total of 42-8, the Patriots set a new record for the most wins in a season. In addition, this year’s Patriot baseball team reached a national ranking as high as third. This, too, is a new school record.

One of the Patriots biggest challenges came on March 17th as they hosted Spalding University. Ranked seventh in the NAIA preseason poll, Spalding would be one of the toughest teams that Cumberlands would face. Both teams would come out swinging the bats and throwing their aces. After a two run homerun by senior Jason Nidifer in the bottom of the fourth inning, Spalding brought in last year’s KIAC and the NAIA Region XII pitcher of the year, Brad Davis. Cumberlands rose to the challenge of this ace. In the sixth and seventh inning, the Patriots honed in on Davis and took two pitches over the outfield fence. Senior Robbie Blanton took one deep in the sixth and was followed by junior Roman Cox in the seventh. To close out the game, Coach Brad Shelton put senior J.J. Jackson on the mound. Jackson shut down Spalding allowing no earned runs in four innings. The Patriots came out victorious with a score of 7-4.

In the Mid-South Conference Championship game on April 26, the Patriots took on Lambuth University. Having already lost once to Lambuth earlier in the tournament, the Patriots had to play their best ball to win the title. With the score tied going into the top of the eighth inning, Coach Shelton called on someone to rise to the occasion. Sophomore Chris Wood answered with a thundering homerun over the centerfield fence. This proved to be the deciding factor in the game as Cumberlands claimed the Mid-South Conference title with a score of 7-6. Junior Scott Nobles, also, led the team from the mound. He allowed only six earned runs in nine innings of play. With this victory, the Patriots not only brought home the conference title, but they helped Coach Shelton reach a milestone of 300 wins in his career.

When the Mid-South Conference awards were announced, University of the Cumberalnds found themselves returning again and again to receive an award. Coach Brad Shelton was named Coach of the Year; Roman Cox was bestowed with Player of the Year; and J.J. Jackson was honored with Pitcher of the Year. Six members of the team, also, received First Team honors they included Matt Jones (2nd base), Robbie Blanton (INF), Roman Cox (OF), Derek Christerson (OF), J.J. Jackson (SP), and Isaiah Ruffner (SP). Seven other members were named to the Second Team. These included Chris Cartas (1st base), Kerry Gorley (INF), Chris Wood (OF), Drew Bridewell (C), Josh Bertram (SP), Todd Hawkins (SP), and Jake Shaver (RP).

Even though Cumberlands did not make it past the Region XI tournament, the Patriots had a very successful season. Losing only four seniors, the Patriots look to have most of their lineup back for next year. During the off-season, the team will continue to build and will look to improve in the coming year.