Armed with an intimidating beard/goatee, Benard flourished when put into dangerous, high leverage situations out of the bullpen in the playoffs.
Benard slammed the door shut for saves against No. 4 seed and conference preseason favorite Kentucky Wesleyan and then went a little above to earn another save vs. No. 5 Tiffin in the championship game.
Benard recorded the final six outs of the game on Saturday with his team up 7-6 after Trey Vanderpool’s go-ahead three-run bomb in the seventh inning.
He recorded four strikeouts in two outings and only gave up one hit in three innings pitched. Benard, a first team all-conference reliever along with teammate Tiger Cox, has 16 career saves which ranks second in conference history behind KWC’s Alex Franzen (22).
Benard now has 9 saves going into the NCAA Midwest Regional for TNU.