PITTSBURGH -- On a cold day up at Point Park Field at Green Tree Park, the No. 22-ranked Pioneers opened their home season on Saturday with two wins over Cincinnati Christian University by scores of 10-1 and 5-1. The Pioneers had a lot of hitting and also strong pitching to take the first two games of the River States Conference baseball series.
Point Park (16-1, 8-0 RSC) also notched a milestone for head coach Loren Torres, who won his 300th game at the school. Torres, who is in his ninth year in charge of the Pioneers, has 407 wins in his career including 107 in five years at Judson (Ill.) before coming to Point Park.
The Pioneers have now won 16 games in a row after putting up 30 hits and allowing just one earned run on Saturday. The series versus CCU (4-14, 2-6 RSC) concludes on Sunday with two games beginning at 1 p.m.
POINT PARK 10, CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN 1
The Pioneers tied a season high with 20 hits and had offense up and down the lineup to power their way to a 10-1 win in the opener. The pitching was strong as well with starter Nicholas Beardsley and relievers Keenan Smith and Robelin Bautista allowing no earned runs and combining on a three-hitter.
Richard Perez was a very tough out going 4 for 5 with an RBI. He was one of six Pioneers to have multi-hit games, and he had an RBI single in the first inning as Point Park led, 2-0.
Chris Hernandez put up a 3-for-4 performance including an RBI double in the fifth for a 8-1 lead. Point Park tacked on two more in the seventh with Reynaldo Adames' triple getting the inning started. Adames was 2 for 4 with an RBI, as was Edberg Dominguez.
Billy Kidd and Ben Herstine were both 2 for 3 with a run, and Cole Horew scored two runs.
Beardsley allowed only two base runners his first five innings. He threw six innings and allowed just two hits. The only run Beardsley (3-1) gave up was unearned in the sixth to end the shutout. He finished with six strikeouts and two walks.
Smith pitched the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a run and yielding only one hit. Bautista finished things off with a scoreless ninth, which included two strikeouts.
POINT PARK 5, CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN 1
Cole Horew was the hitting standout going 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs as the Pioneers took the nightcap, 5-1. Horew, a sophomore, belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to pad the Pioneers' lead to 4-1. Two innings later, he stroked an RBI single for an insurance run and a 5-1 advantage.
The offense took until the third inning to break through, and it was Ben Herstine who delivered a two-run single with two outs to put Point Park in front, 2-0. The scoring opportunity was set up when Cole Horew singled, Jake Horew was hit by a pitch and Chris Hernandez laid down a sacrifice bunt.
A hit batter came around to score again in the fourth. Billy Kidd was hit to start the inning, and two batters later, Horew went deep. Kidd was a part of another scoring inning in the sixth when he led off with a single, stole second and scored on Horew's RBI knock.
The second game was a seven-inning contest, and Point Park starter Felix Castillo (4-0) covered the first six innings to earn the win. He gave up just three hits while tallying five strikeouts against just one walk. Castillo notched two strikeouts in the sixth, his last frame, and left with a 4-1 lead.
Daryl Pino pitched the seven inning in a non-save situation with one strikeout and one hit allowed.
The Point Park offense posted double-digit hits once again with 10, and eight of the nine starters had at least one hit.
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