photos courtesy of Samantha Robinson
Shane Conley tied the game 2-2 in the fifth inning at Point Park Field.

Chaz Russo hit a home run to cut the IU Southeast lead to 2-1 at the bottom of the fifth inning at Point Park Field at Green Tree Park.

The Pioneers had a rough start to their week, starting off with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II No. 9 Seton Hill University last week.

The two teams faced off last Wednesday, but Seton Hill pulled off with two wins.

Demetrius Moorer had a two-run homer in the second, but Seton Hill came back and had a score of 7-5 after the second inning.

The Pioneers came back after some RBI singles from Chaz Russo and Moorer in the fourth and Oscar Romero having a homer in the fifth.

Seton Hill had a few more lucky bats and won the first game 9-8.

PPU played a back and forth game in game two, but Seton Hill came out on top again.

Game two ended with Seton Hill, having a score of 6-4.

“It was a lot of fun getting to play Seton Hill,” Shane Conley, a transfer player from Seton Hill said. “A lot of the guys I went in with are still there and playing so it was nice to compete against them. They’re a good team, but truthfully think we can beat them eliminating a few mistakes. It was a good test for us because it was an opponent similar if not better compared to the teams we need to beat to get to where we want to go, which is Lewston, Idaho.”

The unlucky streak followed the Pioneers into their next round of games against Indiana University Southeast.

PPU started off with another lead, but IU Southeast came back with a three run homer by Logan Coughlin.

IU Southeast ended game one with a winning score of 6-4.

In game two, IU Southeast’s pitcher Clint Chestnut only let up three runs in his six innings of pitching; he also struck out five pioneers and walked one before leaving the mound.

Nolan Krivijanksi started the second game for the Pioneers, giving up five runs. IU Southeast left with another win of 5-3.

The loss put the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) championship in the red for the Pioneers.

“It seems like when this team faces adversity, we know what we need to do,” Crowell said. “We find ways to make it happen. It may not be pretty or the exact way we want it, but we get it done. Still more polishing to do as a team, but overall, we are coming around as a team more and more as the days go by.”

The Pioneers pulled it together to win the KIAC regular season championship for the third season in a row by winning the next two games against IU Southeast.

Jason Kim threw a two-hit shutout in the opening game; the Grenadiers had only five base runners. Kim struck out eight and walked two.

The Pioneers got all of their runs in the fourth inning, which helped them get the 3-0 win.

In the nightcap, the Pioneers started off on a slow start but came back for the win with Russo blasting a solo homer and Moorer hitting an infield single and stealing second.

Conley had an RBI single to tie the game. Starting pitcher Jarrad Brown worked through six innings, Jake Horew came in as the relief.

The Pioneers took the close win of 3-2 to clinch the championship.

PPU played against West Virginia Tech on April 21 in a home game at 1 p.m.