BELTON — For the second time in program history, UMHB Baseball has a Preseason All-American.
Third baseman Riley Bender, a 2025 First Team All-Region selection, was named Second Team D3baseball.com Preseason All-America on Wednesday, giving UMHB added momentum as it looks towards the 2026 campaign.
The Crusaders have had just one prior D3baseball.com Preseason All-American in the program’s history, as outfielder Joseph Villegas was named to the 2010 team as a Second Team selection following an All-American campaign in 2009.
Wednesday’s news puts Bender in an esteemed category in the history of Crusader baseball, as he looks to make the most of his third season in Belton. Originally a transfer from Division I Abilene Christian, the Kingwood, Texas native joined the program for the 2024 season, where he garnered a selection to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week and an ASC Hitter of the Week honor. That first season also saw Bender tie the UMHB single-game home run record, hitting three homers in a slugfest against Whittier.
Last season, Bender added to his strong performances at the plate, posting a .703 slugging percentage—the fifth-best in the ASC—to go along with a .365 batting average, and team-highs in hits (54) and doubles (19). He opened the spring with seven RBIs in UMHB’s opening series at Austin College and closed with a four-game hit streak, and posted four three-hit games in between. Bender’s defensive capability in the infield also took a step foward, as he decreased his error total by three compared to 2024 (10 to 7) while recording 12 more putouts and 37 more assists. His .940 fielding percentage was a jump from the .859 mark he posted as a junior, and he also helped turn 14 double plays.
His 2025 campaign earned recognition from D3baseball.com as a First Team All-Region X honoree, from the American Baseball Coaches Association as a Second Team All-Region selection, and from the ASC, where he was named First Team All-Conference. Bender’s accolades gave UMHB ABCA All-Region selections in consecutive years for only the second time in the program’s D-III era. He also became the sixth Crusader to earn All-Region recognition from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com, the two leading organizations promoting Division III baseball.
Bender returns to Belton after a summer spent in the Western Canadian Baseball League—Canada’s top summer collegiate league—where he hit .261 with nine extra-base hits. He was the lone D3 representative on the roster of the Regina Red Sox, who won the WCBL championship for the third time in team history.
Bender and The Cru open their 2026 season at Red Murff Field in Belton on Feb. 6, hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 6 p.m. in Game 1 of a three-game series. CMS went 35-15 in 2025, finshing the season ranked No. 12 in the D3baseball.com Top 25.
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