LEBANON, Tenn. - Union College punched its ticket to the Avista-NAIA World Series as it won the NAIA South Central Super Regional, defeating host Cumberland (Tenn.) University 4-1 Friday to the best-of-three series two games to one.

The victory sends Union to its first-ever NAIA World Series and is only the third school from Kentucky to ever advance that far, joining Georgetown (Ky.) College and Spalding (Ky.) University in that category.

"This was a 24-man effort here today," said Union head coach Bart Osborne. "Lance (Dougherty) threw great and all the guys just did there job.

"This is just unimaginable for me. To beat such a classy and tradition-rich program like the one Woody Hunt runs here at Cumberland is amazing."

The Avista-NAIA World Series will be held in Lewiston, Idaho, May 23-30. Pairings will be announced Sunday.

In addition to his current 24-man roster, Osborne credits the past few senior classes for getting the program to this point.

"This win today is just as much about the guys on the field as the last couple classes that have come through here," the fifth-year coach said. "This has been a five-year process, and the teams that have proceded this one deserve credit for building what Union baseball has became."

Union (47-16 overall) collected the victory and World Series berth by playing small ball and taking advantage of a pair of Cumberland (46-21 overall) errors. Union didn't necessarily hit the ball hard but rather in the right spots. Also, Union burned up the base paths, stealing four bases – three in the first inning alone.

David Fairbanks (Cincinnati, Ohio) was the offensive star as he had to fill in as the lead-off hitter as Kenny Kysar (Corbin, Ky.) was scratched after being injured in Thursday's game. Fairbanks went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.

"I just had to step up," Fairbanks said. "When Kenny went down and I was told I'd be batting leadoff, I knew I just had to step up and set the tempo."

For the super regional, Fairbanks batted .556 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Union struck first as Fairbanks led off the bottom of the first by reaching on an error. After stealing second and third, Fairbanks strolled home thanks to a Justin Hart (Lake Mary, Fla.) sac fly.

In the top of the second, Zack Diekmann led off with a double to left center and later scored when Tyler Fisher lined a double, tying the score at 1-1.

Lioney Henriquez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) put Union back on top in the bottom off the fifth as he lofted a two-out single to center, allowing Fairbanks to score easily from second.

Union added an insurance run in the seventh when pinch-runner Tyler Martin (Corbin, Ky.) scored off of a Dustin Thrasher (Somerset, Ky.) sac fly, making it a 3-1 contest. It appeared that Union might add even more runs as it loaded the bases with two outs, but second baseman James Lilley made a nice leaping catch to save a couple runs on a Joe Grinstead (Bowling Green, Ky.) line drive to end the threat.

In the eighth, Brett McAlpin (Winchester, Ky.) lined a two-out double to left center to drive in a run for a 4-1 cushion.

McAplin stepped big time in the super regional, leading the team with a .583 average, two doubles and five RBIs.

"I was looking fastball," McAplin said of his last run-scoring hit. "It felt good to put that extra run on the board for insurance."

Lance Dougherty (Canyon, Texas) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning with Thrasher making a diving catch for the third and final out, sealing the 4-1 victory.

Dougherty went the distance, allowing one earned run on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts. He is now 8-1 on the year with a 2.52 earned-run average.

"This was a team effort. I don't strike a lot of guys out, so it took the eight guys behind me to get the job done," Dougherty said.

Bulldog Notes

Union is the first team from the Appalachian Athletic Conference to advance to the NAIA World Series and the first NAIA Region XII team to make since Spalding qualified back in 2005.
Union batted .337 as a team in the super regional while Cumberland hit .253.
Union stole five bases in Friday's win, giving it 197 on the season - one shy of the program record it set in 2007.