LAKE MYRTLE, Fla. -- Point Park University baseball picked up two more victories on Monday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a 5-4 win over (RV) Judson (Ill.) University and a 7-5 win over Michigan-Dearborn. The Pioneers (5-1) have won their last five games, and they have one more day in Florida before heading back north to begin conference play at the end of the week.
POINT PARK 5, (RV) JUDSON 4
The Pioneers won in their final at bat when Erik Montero ripped a double with one out in the bottom of the seventh to beat (RV) Judson, 5-4. Reynaldo Adames scored the winning run from first base to make it a walk-off win. He was pinch running for Chris Hernandez, who had singled for one of his two hits in the game and four on the day.
Scoring from first on a double proved to be an important factor for the Pioneers. They led, 3-0, but they found themselves down, 4-3, when they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. But Edberg Dominguez, who scored two runs, led off the sixth with a single. Billy Kidd followed with a clutch double, and Dominguez came all the way around to score the tying run.
Daryl Pino (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Pioneers. He pitched the final 1.2 innings and kept things at 4-4 to allow for Montero's game-winner. Addison Domingo started for Point Park and pitched into the sixth inning. He blanked Judson the first five innings, and it was a big hit that gave the Eagles the 4-3 lead, a three-run homer by David Matthews with one out in the sixth.
Point Park's 3-0 lead was built on Jake Horew's two-run homer in the third and Cole Horew's RBI triple in the fourth. The Pioneers totaled nine hits with Hernandez the only player with more than one.
Domingo, who started on one day's rest following a relief outing on Saturday, struck out seven and walked two. Judson starter Dan Gerke went 5.1 innings giving up four runs on seven hits.
POINT PARK 7, MICHIGAN DEARBORN 5
The Pioneers built a 7-1 lead and held on for a 7-5 victory over Michigan-Dearborn. A five-run second inning put the Pioneers up, 5-0, and they withstood a four-run sixth from the Wolverines to seal the win.
Yuri Sucart smashed a two-run homer to put the first runs on the board. The key second inning also included an RBI single by Chris Hernandez and a two-run base hit from Ben Herstine. Hernandez was 2 for 2 with a triple and two runs, and he was on base four times. Herstine was 1 for 3 with three RBIs, including a sacrifice fly in the fourth that pushed the lead to 7-1.
Point Park made the most of its six hits, and three Pioneers pitchers made it stand up for the win. Jake Forgrave (1-0) pitched into the sixth inning and earned the victory in 5.1 innings of work. He gave up four runs on four hits, struck out four and walked one.
Keenan Smith and Ryan Huber came on in relief in the sixth. Huber notched a strikeout to strand a runner at second to end the threat and keep the score at 7-5. He then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up his first save.
NEXT GAMES
Point Park concludes its eight-game stretch in Florida with a doubleheader versus (RV) Judson (1-3) on Tuesday at 9 a.m. Judson beat Michigan-Dearborn, 7-3, on Monday. Point Park returns north to play its River States Conference openers March 2-3 at IU Kokomo.
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