WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- Point Park University went 2-0 on Monday, the first day of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The Pioneers (39-14), the No. 4 seed in the five-team, double-elimination bracket, started the day with a 9-3 win over No. 5 Mayville State (N.D.), in the opening game of the tournament.
Point Park backed up that win with a 6-2 victory over No. 1 seed and No. 3-nationally ranked Cumberlands (Ky.) (46-7), the host team. The Pioneers advance in the winner's bracket to play No. 2 seed LSU-Shreveport (41-13) on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The winner of that moves on to the championship round. LSU-Shreveport started out with a 7-3 victory over No. 3 Reinhardt (Ga.).
The win over Cumberlands started off with a blast from Jouseph Renovales, a grand slam in the top of the second that gave the Pioneers a 4-0 lead. Ryan Huber took it from there throwing 7.1 innings, giving up just one run and striking out nine to get the win. Huber handed a 4-1 lead over to closer Ruben Ramirez, who pitched the final 1.2 innings to get the save.
Huber and Ramirez combined to strike out 12 batters and walk only one. The high-powered Patriorts offense was held to five hits, two of which were home runs. Jose Rojas hit a solo shot to cut the score to 4-1 in the second, and Bryan Leef hit a solo homer to cut it to 6-2 in the ninth, his 28th of the year. But that was all Cumberlands got as Huber and Ramirez kept the bases clean.
Point Park padded the lead to 6-1 with Carlos Sanchez's RBI double in the top of the ninth, his second double of the game. Antonio Carrillo followed two batters later with a sacrifice fly to cap off his 3 for 3 night. Luis Mujica set up the run with a bunt.
Cumberlands starter Walter Hernandez went 3.0 innings with the Pioneers getting five hits and four runs off of him. Thomas Gutierrez pitched the final 6.0 innings giving up two runs and four hits.
The victory over Mayville State (35-17) had three Point Park pitchers combine to strikeout 15 batters, and the Pioneers' offense homered twice. Starter Nicholas Beardsley went five-plus innings striking out seven and walking two. He was charged with three runs as the game was tied at 3-3 through five and a half innings.
Ramirez came on in the sixth with the score 3-2 in favor of the Pioneers. A run scored to tie things up, but Ramirez held it there while the Point Park offense came alive.
The Pioneers got to the Comets' bullpen scoring two in the sixth and three more in the seventh to stretch out the score to 8-3. The seventh inning featured Carrillo's two-run single. Danilo Leon hit a homer in the eighth to up the lead to 9-3.
Ramirez pitched 3.1 innings with seven strikeouts, no walks and no runs allowed on three hits to earn the victory. Combined on the day, the NAIA's ERA leader (0.95 ERA) worked 5.0 innings of relief, struck out 10, walked none and allowed one run on four hits. Easton Klein got the final two outs to finish things off.
Ed Pfluger got the Point Park offense on track with a solo homer to deep center field. That tied the score at 1-1. Leon had the first of his two RBIs on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to tie the score at 2-2. Renovales came up two batters later with an RBI double for a 3-2 lead.
Follow the Williamsburg, Ky., bracket all week long for national championship coverage. The UC Sports Network provides live video and stats for all games of the tournament, which runs through Wednesday and (if necessary) Thursday. The winner advances to the NAIA World Series starting May 28 in Lewiston, Idaho.
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