WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Point Park University baseball settled for a split with NCAA Division II Minnesota Crookston on Monday night, the Pioneers' second day at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
Point Park (3-1) won the first game, 7-3, with a five-run second inning powering the way in back of a strong starting-pitching performance from senior Cole Horew. The Pioneers dropped the nightcap to Minnesota-Crookston (2-3), a nine-inning contest that went to the Golden Eagles, 9-3.
Point Park concludes its trip to Florida on Tuesday with a doubleheader versus NAIA Cornerstone (Mich.) at 12 p.m. They come back to Pittsburgh briefly before hitting the road for their River States Conference opening series Friday and Saturday at Brescia (Ky.).
POINT PARK 7, MINNESOTA-CROOKSTON 3
Cole Horew tossed a complete game of 7.0 innings with eight strikeouts and no walks to secure the win. The senior right-hander gave up a run in the first but did not allow the Golden Eagles to put up a crooked number at any point.
Luis Mujica's three-run homer broke things open in the five-run third inning. That put the Pioneers ahead, 5-1, and came right after Ed Pfluger ripped a two-run double. The Pioneers added on by manufacturing two insurance runs in the fifth with Antonio Carrillo getting things going with a double, one of his two hits.
Pfluger was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Carrillo was 2 for 3. The Pioneers had six hits as a team.
Horew allowed six hits in his seven innings. He worked out of a jam in the fifth to strand a couple of runners and keep the score 5-2.
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON 9, POINT PARK 3
The Golden Eagles took their turn in having a big third inning. Minnesota-Crookston put up six runs in the third inning of game two, which ended up being the difference on the final scoreboard.
Point Park tallied 11 hits but could not climb out of the 6-0 hole. Carrillo blasted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to 9-3, but the Pioneers got no closer.
Minnesota-Crookston tallied 15 hits. The six-run uprising featured three hits. Point Park had three relievers work in back of starter Ruben Ramirez. Also getting on the mound were Bryan Camacho, Shawn Henry and Dylan Winseck.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Live Stats will be available for Tuesday's games versus Cornerstone (12 pm, DH) along with live video streaming for all games in Florida courtesy of LiveBarn. Go to PointParkSports.com/Live for available live coverage listings.
