WILWORE, Ky. -- Pitching and timely hitting will always coming in handy, and Point Park University baseball had those Thursday at Asbury (Ky.) University with wins of 7-1 and 4-2 to begin the River States Conference series.
Nolan Krivijanski (4-1) followed up his perfect game of last weekend with a 1-hitter in Thursday's opener at Asbury. The senior right-hander from West Mifflin, Pa., went the distance while picking up seven strikeouts and just one walk.
Point Park (15-7, 10-4 RSC) out-hit Asbury, 11-1, in the first game, and it strung together six hits in the fourth inning to respond to a 1-0 deficit
Stefan Mrkonja's bat stayed hot with a 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs. His base hit was the sixth one of the big inning, and it drove in a run. Big hits earlier in the inning were RBI singles by Edberg Dominguez and Erik Montero, and a run-scoring double from Cole Johnson.
The Pioneers padded the lead to 7-1 in the sixth when Mrkonja and Richard Perez smacked consecutive run-soring doubles.
Krivijanski cruised through his start and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The only run came in the third as a result of a hit batter, a bunt and an error that brought the runner around from second.
Point Park won the second game after Dominguez drove in two runs with his base hit with two outs in the the top of the seventh. It was the third hit of the inning and put the Pioneers back in front after Asbury had tied it up with a couple hits in the bottom of the fifth.
Keenan Smith improved to 5-0 by pitching the final 1.2 innings of relief. He stranded two runners in the sixth to keep the score 2-2 and then worked around a leadoff hit in the last of the seventh.
Smith backed up Nicholase Beardsley's strong start. A sophomore righty, Beardsley gave up just four hits the first 5.1 innings. He collected eight strkeouts versus zero walks.
Point Park had a great start with Mrkonja leading off the game with a solo homer. The lead drew to 2-0 when Andres Herrera delivered an run-scoring base hit in the second.
Winners of 10 of their last eleven games overall and 9-1 in their last 10 conference games, the Pioneers play two more games at Asbury on Friday. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m.
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