2019 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
May 2-5 at VA Memorial Stadium (Chillicothe, Ohio)
BRACKET I WATCH LIVE I LIVE STATS
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- No. 2 seed Point Park University pulled away from No. 5 seed Asbury (Ky.) University for a 10-5 win on Thursday, the first day of the River States Conference Baseball Championship. The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being held at VA Memorial Stadium through Sunday.
The Pioneers (32-15, 19-8 RSC) fell behind, 3-0, but they scored 10 of the next 11 runs to put the game out of reach. Point Park pounded out 17 hits and had scoring opportunities for much of the last seven innings. Asbury (Ky.) (24-21, 15-12 RSC) was able to turn three double plays in the middle innings to hold off the Pioneers for a while, but the key hits eventually came.
Point Park advances in the winner's bracket to play on Friday night versus No. 3 IU Kokomo (34-16, 19-9 RSC), which beat No. 4 Rio Grande (Ohio), 9-4, on Thursday night. Asbury drops to the loser's bracket to face No. 1 IU Southeast in an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m.
Point Park battled back to tie things up at 3-3 in the bottom of the third versus Asbury. Jake Forgrave, who was 3 for 3, singled up the middle to score Alejandro Pelaez for the first run. Pelaez was 3 for 5 and was on base with a lead-off triple. Later in the inning, Erik Montero hit a run-scoring single, and Tyler Dobie's sacrifice fly tied things up.
Pelaez's big game featured a two-run homer in the fourth for a 5-3 lead. Other big games were turned in by Montero (4 for 5) and Luis Mujica (4 for 5, 2B).
Asbury relief pitcher Tyler Morrison worked some magic to get double plays to end the fourth- and fifth-inning threats by the Pioneers. He even got one in the sixth as well to prevent a rally before it even started and keep the score at 5-4.
The Pioneers broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh -- albeit after a rain delay halted the game with one out in the frame.
When things picked back up, Point Park strung together four runs and five hits. The big hit was Ed Pfluger's two-run single with two outs. That gave breathing room at 7-3, and the Pioneers tacked on further with Paleaz's RBI base hit and a bases-loaded walk to Deonte Settles. Mujica added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to push the lead to 10-4.
Ruben Ramirez earned the victory in 5.1 innings of relief. He came on in the fourth inning with the score tied 3-3 and two runners on. He shut the door to give up just two runs and four hits during his outing. One of the runs came in the ninth as he kept good care of the 5-3 and 5-4 leads until the offense broke open.
Point Park starter Felix Castillo went 3.2 innings but did not get help from the defense. The Pioneers made three early errors that helped to open up the 3-0 lead for Asbury. Castillo was charged with three runs (two earned) and four hits, and he got out with 61 pitches.
Follow the RSC Baseball Championship with Live Video on the RSC Game Central presented by Stretch Internet and Live Stats on Dakstats. Go to RiverStatesConference.com for links to live coverage. Follow the Pioneers on PointParkSports.com and on social media @PointParkSports and @PPUBaseball.
