Following a tremendous summer in the Texas Collegiate League with the Victoria Generals, UMHB baseball’s Riley Bender was selected to D3baseball.com’s Summer Honor Roll on Tuesday morning. The annual honor roll features the top Division III performers in summer collegiate leagues across the country.
A native of Kingwood, Texas, Bender hit .252 at the plate in 131 at-bats for the Generals. His 27 runs batted in were second on the team and the fourth-most of any player in the six-team league, as Bender drove in eight runs over the final 10 games of the season. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound infielder, he also recorded eight doubles, a triple, and a home run, with his doubles being tied for the second-most on the team. Bender was also one of just three players on Victoria’s roster with at least five doubles, a triple, and a home run during the 2024 season.
Victoria posted a 38-13 overall record, winning the Texas Division before capturing the TCL Championship on August 4. It marked the team’s third TCL title and the first for Victoria since 2018. Bender was selected to the league’s All-TCL Team following the season’s conclusion, with the press release noting that he “provided stability and power at third base, helping drive the Generals’ offense throughout the season.”
This season marked Bender’s second summer playing for the Generals, as he also did so in 2023, prior to joining The Cru. Last spring, he tied UMHB’s program record for home runs in a single game (3) in a high-scoring duel against Whittier, and hit .308 in 30 games. He tallied 26 RBI, nine doubles, five home runs, and a total of 32 hits in 104 at-bats. His RBI total was tied for the second-most on the team, and his slugging percentage of .538 ranked fourth amongst UMHB’s hitters.
