QUICK RECAP

UPLAND, Ind. -- No. 4 seed Point Park University had a close loss of 12-10 to No. 2 seed and bracket host Taylor (Ind.) University on Day 2 of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Upland (Ind.) Bracket on Tuesday. The Pioneers (38-16) had the early lead but had to try and come from behind after some mid-game miscues gave the Trojans (39-15) the lead. 

Taylor took advantage to comeback from deficits of 4-0, 6-2 and 7-6. The Trojans tied the score at 6-6 with four in the top of the fifth and built an 11-7 lead with five in the top of the sixth. 

Point Park did not go away and got within 11-9 and later 12-10 but could get no closer. In the end, walks and errors were costly for the Pioneers with eight walks and four errors leading to four unearned runs throughout the day. 

The Pioneers fall to the loser's bracket of the five-team, double-elimation draw. Point Park is down but not out and will have its hopes alive on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. versus the winner of Tuesday night's elimination game between No. 1 seed Tennessee Wesleyan and No. 3 Cumberland (Tenn.).

A win on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. would send the Pioneers into the championship round versus Taylor later that night at 6:00 p.m. A win there would force a winner-take-all game for the NAIA World Series on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. 

HOW IT HAPPENEND....

Point Park starter Sebastian Rodriguez had a great start to the game retiring the Trojans 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Carlos Burroughs made a sliding catch in right field to put out the first batter, and a strikeout two batters later ended the inning.

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard early with Isaac Santana's three-run homer in the bottom of the first. With two outs and nobody on, a couple of walks kept the inning going for Point Park first baseman to hit his 12th of the year over the fence in center field. After another walk, Carlos Martinez delivered an RBI double to make it 4-0 after one inning. Santana was 2 for 5 with three RBIs in the game. 

Taylor cut the score to 4-2 on Camden Knepp's two-run single in the top of the third. Point Park got those runs back on Justin Oakley's two-run homer in the bottom half. Santana had singled the batter before to put a runner on for Oakley's 11th of the season.

Taylor had something brewing in the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out. But Rodriguez, who worked 2.1 innings to get the save the night before versus No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan, struck out the next two hitters to leave them stranded. 

The Trojans got back at it in the fifth getting a runner on for Kade Vander Molen, who went deep for a two-run shot. That cut it to 6-4 and was his third homer of the year versus the Pioneers. With two outs and two on after an infield hit, Rodriguez came out after 4.2 innings. Taylor tied things up at 6-6 when two runs scored on Brayden Manning's base hit, which came off of reliever Adam Zulka.

Rodriguez ended up charged with six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks. 

Eddie Javier Jr. blasted a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The Pioneers' third homer of the game pushed the Pioneers in front, 7-6. Javier Jr. led the Pioneers hitting going 3 for 4. 

Taylor's five runs in the sixth inning came on just one hit as the Trojans went in front, 11-7. Three walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and an error gave Taylor its biggest lead of the day. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Jared Campbell smashed his 17th home run of the year, a two-run shot that cut the deficit to 11-9. Omar Morillo had led off with a base hit. With that homer -- which extended hits school record for home runs -- Campbell broke the school record for RBIs in a single season. He now has 73 on the year to break the mark of 71 set by Jack Yard in 1991. 

Another unearned run pushed Taylor's lead to 12-9 in the eighth. Although a groundout in the Point Park eighth gave Campbell his 73rd RBI on the season, that was all the Pioneers got. 

The Taylor bullpen came up big with winning pitchr Alec Holcomb being called on with two outs in the first inning and his team trailing, 4-0. He went 4.2 innings and handed the 11-9 lead over to Gabel Pentecost, who pitched the final 3.2 innings for the save. Point Park had three hits and only one run (unearned) versus Pentecost. 

Point Park had five pitchers throw in the game with Adam Zulka, Jose Moreno, Joathan Rivera and Ramon Rodriguez combining to cover the last 4.1 innings for the Pioneers.