BUTLER, Pa. -- No. 14-ranked Point Park University baseball is 29-2 and 18-0 RSC after it beat University of Rio Grande, 7-4 and 7-2, on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of the River States Conference series at Kelly Automotive Park in Butler, Pa.
The Pioneers had some big hits late in each game Sunday, two solid pitching performances from its starting pitchers Felix Castillo (7-0) and Nick Bucci (5-0), and Addison Domingo got the save in both ends of the doubleheader to give him eight on the year.
POINT PARK 7, RIO GRANDE 4
The Pioneers scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie and deliver the final blow in what was another back-and-forth game between the clubs. Much like the series opener on Saturday night, which was won by Point Park, 5-4, Sunday's first game had a few ties and lead changes.
Point Park's Chris Hernandez was 3 for 5 with two RBIs, including a base hit that scored two and tied the game at 2-2 in the third. The Pioneers were later down, 4-2, but they clawed back to 4-4 thanks to Stefan Mrkonja's RBI single in the fifth and Billy Kidd's sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Point Park made its final move in the seventh, which had three runs on three hits. Yuri Sucart got the rally started with a base hit. Mrkonja then sacrificed and reached with an error on the play. A fielder's choice by Jake Horew and an error on the play brought home the first run, and the second run scored on the back end of a double play. With two outs, Ben Herstine tacked on an RBI single to make the score 7-4.
Mrkonja was 2 for 4 with two runs, and Sucart 2 for 3 with two runs as part of the 11-hit attack.
Point Park starter Felix Castillo pitched 7.0 innings to get the win. He allowed only two earned runs and four hits during his outing, which had him trailing, 4-2, through four innings. But he recovered to retire the next 10 batters in a row to finish off his outing and get the Pioneers to the bottom of the seventh tied 4-4.
The Pioneers made a winner out of Castillo with their three-run outburst in the bottom half, and Addison Domingo closed out the game with the three-run lead. The two-inning save had him face only seven batters with a hit by pitch being the only base runner.
Rio Grande had just four hits in the game, one of which was Kameron Herring's bases-loaded single in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead. The RedsStorm took a 4-2 lead in the fourth thanks to an infield error that scored a run, which was followed by a double steal that pushed across another run.
POINT PARK 7, RIO GRANDE 2
The Pioneers scored a combined five runs their final three times at bat to stretch out a 2-2 game to a 7-2 win. That was in back of winning pitcher Nick Bucci, who went 4.0 innings in the seven-inning game for the victory. Ryan Huber threw 0.2 innings of middle relief, and Addison Domingo picked up another save after coming in with the score 3-2 and finishing off the final 2.1 innings.
Richard Perez broke the 2-2 tie with a solo homer to right field in the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth, Rio Grande had two on and two out when Domingo came in for fellow reliever Huber. Juan Cruz greeted Domingo with a base hit up the middle, and Stefan Mrkonja came up with a big momentum play when the center fielder threw out pinch runner Santiago Martinez at the plate to end the inning and keep the score 3-2.
With the momentum, a big offensive inning followed with Mrkonja hitting a triple and Chris Hernandez clubbing a two-run double to score Mrkonja and Jake Horew. Horew had drawn an intentional walk. After a base hit by Erik Montero, Perez brought home a run on a groundout to give him two RBIs in the game and push the lead to 6-2.
Mrkonja finished the game 3 for 3 with his triple and two runs. Hernandez was 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Mrkonja and Hernandez both had five hits on the day. Jake Horew added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make the score 7-2.
Rio Grande had 10 hits but was held to just the two runs with nine left on base. The RedStorm (16-22, 9-9 RSC) left the bases loaded in the first and third innings. A great stop and throw by third baseman Montero cut down a run at the plate to help get out of the jam in the first, the first of two times the RedStorm had a runner thrown out at home.
Bucci limited the damage to two runs over his four innings despite giving up seven hits. He got a strikeout and a groundout to end up allowing just one run in the third inning, which had the RedStorm set up with the bases loaded and one out.
Huber took over to start the fifth with the 3-2 lead, and there were two on and two out on when he left after facing four batters. Mrkonja's big throw-out at home followed to get out of it. Domingo proceeded to allow just one hit over the sixth and seventh innings. He struck out four in the process to close out the game.
In the three-game series, Domingo factored into the decision each time with a win in the opener and two saves on Sunday. He covered 7.1 innings across the three games with three hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts on his resume.
NEXT UP
The Pioneers play a non-conference doubleheader at NCAA Division II Clarion on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The Pioneers host Midway (Ky.) for their next RSC series at home April 13-14 for three games.
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