Jose Diaz was continuing his illustrious career before the baseball season was cut short. He led the Saints with a .405 batting average and 11 stolen bases. He also led the team with eight saves, which was ranked second in the NAIA. He limited batters to a .135 batting average and struck out 15 over the course of the short season. In the final game of the season, Diaz put up an amazing stat line. He went 3-for-4 at the plate, scored two runs and hit two doubles. The Saints were 5-1 in conference and 15-10 overall. He has a career batting average of .325 and averaged more than 50 hits in each of his first three seasons.
Diaz’s stats include Saints’ career-best most games played – 178, at-bats-600, total runs-106, hits-195, doubles-38, home runs-12, RBIs-118, total bases-279 and stolen bases-59; season-best batting average – .405; and game-best four runs scored. Diaz was named a Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Scholar-Athlete from 2017-2019 and All-Conference First Team in 2019.
Diaz reflected on the season ending short by saying, “I strongly believe that we had a chance to do some great things. We had the right pieces and we were all pulling on the same side of the rope.”