The Point Park University baseball team looked to rebound from their slow start in conference play against West Virginia University Tech last weekend.

The Pioneers faced off against the Golden Bears in Mooresville, N.C. due to a poor weather forecast at WVU Tech’s home field. The teams played a doubleheader on both Friday and Saturday, resulting in 3-1 series win for the Pioneers.

“Our offense was able to make the adjustments that we didn’t make during the Rio [Grande] weekend, which was hitting the ball the other way and putting more pressure on the defense,” Head Coach Loren Torres said.

The wins followed a 3-1 series loss the previous weekend at Rio Grande to open conference play.

The Pioneers again put their offensive talents on display Friday, winning the first contest 12-3 and the second 7-3.

The team racked up nine hits in the first game. The score remained tied at three after three innings, but then Point Park scored nine unanswered runs and never looked back.

Chris Hernandez, Daniel Sanchez and Emmanuel Lopez produced for the Pioneers this weekend. Hernandez was 2-3 with a solo home run in the fourth and two RBIs in the first game Friday.

In the fifth inning, Sanchez had a two-run double and Lopez had a three-run triple that contributed to an eight-run inning for Point Park.

Pitcher Addison Domingo earned his second win of the year after pitching five innings.

“He [Domingo] is a guy who is very talented,” Torres said. “His fastball was live and he was able to get his off-speed pitches over for strikes.”

Domingo had three strikeouts and gave up 5 hits on the day. Relievers Daryl Pino and Cole Horew proceeded to sit down six WVU batters in a row for the sixth and seventh innings to secure the win.

The second win of the day featured another strong pitching performance for the Pioneers, as Nolan Krivijanski went six innings while only allowing six hits, walking two and striking out four. He earned the win and improved to 2-1 on the season.

WVU Tech led 3-1 in the third inning, but lost that lead after Point Park scored four runs in its half of the third inning. Nicholas Beardsley came to the mound in the seventh inning and didn’t allow a run.

Lopez, Sanchez and Richard Perez all had two hits in the game. Perez hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to ensure the 7-3 win.

“This weekend was a good wake up call for our offense,” Assistant Coach Rocky Capobianco said.  “We weren’t [hitting] as good as we did in Florida, but we were hitting better than at Rio Grande.”

The Pioneers managed to split the doubleheader Saturday, winning the first game 10-4 and losing the finale of the series 7-0.

In the first contest Point Park put up 13 hits, six of which went for extra bases. Erik Montero and Edberg Dominguez hit back-to-back home runs that gave Point Park its 3-1 lead early in the third inning.

“I was looking for the first pitch since I knew what was going to come, and he left it up and I capitalized,” Dominguez said.

Point Park extended its lead by five runs in the sixth inning. Starting Pitcher Anthony Garofalo pitched the first 3.2 innings, giving up only three runs and three hits. Beardsley again came in relief and earned the win with 2.1 innings pitched, striking out three. Cole Horew pitched the seventh inning to secure the win.

In the second game on Saturday, WVU Tech used only two pitchers to shut out Point Park 7-0. WVU Tech starter Jarron Monroe pitched four innings, giving up only two hits and striking out four. Reliever Garrison Vandeventer proceeded to keep the Point Park offense at bay by pitching three scoreless innings.

“We just have to put everything together and play pitch by pitch,” Dominguez said. “We are a very competitive team though.”

The Pioneers are scheduled to continue RSC play this weekend against Cincinnati Christian, weather permitting.