The men’s baseball team took on NAIA Fisher College and River State Conference (RSC) rival Indiana University Southeast this week. The Pioneers swept Fisher College in a doubleheader on Monday, April 4 at home, while only being able to take one of three against IU Southeast on the road on Sunday, April 10 and Monday, April 11. The Pioneers now stand at 24-9 on the season, with a 12-3 record in conference play, good enough for second place in the RSC, just behind IU Southeast who now overtakes them for first. 

“All we want to do is our job to help the team win no matter what,” said junior infielder Ty Andrews. “It’s the discipline this team has shown to constantly get better every day, and never being selfish. This team wants to win.” 

Game one against the Fisher College Falcons started off a bit rough for the Pioneers, with the opposition jumping out to a 4-1 lead after scoring two in the top of the first and second innings. The bottom of the fourth would be the turn around for Point Park, starting off with an RBI double off the bat of senior utility man Gianmarco Marcelletti to bring the score to 4-2. After a walk to slugging sophomore Ty Andrews, the bases were loaded for freshman Jared Campbell. Campbell would send a rocket over the left field wall for a grand slam, putting the Pioneers ahead 7-4 for the first time in the game. A wild pitch and RBI singles by Marcelleti and Andrews put the Pioneers up to double digits at 10-4, insurance runs that would come up clutch after the Falcons tried to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh that was shut down, ending the game at 10-6. 

Campbell went two-for-four with five RBI’s in the contest, putting up half of Point Park’s offense on his own. Marcelletti would also go two-for-four with three runs and two RBI’s to his name, while Andrews would go a perfect two-for-two with a walk. Sophomore John Hawley would get the start on the mound, but would only be able to make it one inning after walking four and giving up two runs in the top of the first. Junior Jose Moreno would come up with the long relief role, going five innings while giving up eight hits and four runs, though he would only give up the runs in his first and last innings of work to get him the win. Senior Ramon Medina came in for the close in the top of the seventh, giving up a hit but closing out the game. 

“The pitchers held them so we could make the comeback [in game one],” said Andrews. “The offense fought every inning to score runs, and [we] trusted the next guy. We put together some great at bats before Jared came up with the clutch homer. It was a team effort.” 

Game two would be a much closer affair, but Point Park made sure to jump out to an early lead to start. The Pioneers picked up two runs in the bottom of the first, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Andrews and an RBI single from Campbell to jump ahead 2-0. Sophomore outfielder Carlos Burroughs would come up with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the score at 4-1. Freshman Jordan Campbell would score Jared Campbell in the bottom of the fifth for the final scoring play of the game at 5-2, with the Pioneers coming away victorious. 

Freshman Javier Cardoso would get his first start of his collegiate career, and made the most of it, going five innings in the seven inning contest, while giving up four hits, two runs (one earned) and striking out three in the solid outing. Medina would come in for the two inning save, striking out three while keeping the Falcons’ bats quiet. 

The Pioneers traveled to Indiana for their toughest RSC match up season, with a doubleheader against the IU Southeast Grenadiers on Sunday. An RBI single by Jared Campbell would put the Pioneers ahead early, but the Grenadiers would score four unanswered runs between the third and sixth innings to go up 4-1. Two runs in the top of the seventh brought the game within one, but IU Southeast responded with their own run to bring the score to 5-3. Campbell would once again come up clutch, scoring two in the top of the ninth to bring the game to 5-5 and giving the Pioneers a fighting chance. The Grenadiers had other plans, mashing a walk off solo homer to end the game at 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Junior Easton Klein would get the start, going six innings while giving up four runs but struck out 12. Senior closer Leo Diaz would come in for the three inning save but would get tagged with the loss after giving up the walk off homer, going two-and-a-third innings while striking out two and giving up two runs. 

Game two was a rough start for the Pioneers, with the Grenadiers jumping out to a three run advantage in the bottom of the first to put them up 3-0. Senior catcher Luis Mujica would finally put a run on the board for Point Park in the top of the fourth with an RBI single, but IU Southeast would come up with another two runs in the bottom of the inning to put them ahead 5-1. Point Park collected two more runs, with senior infielder Edwin De La Rosa scoring both runs in the top of the fifth and sixth, but it wouldn’t be enough to make the comeback, as the Pioneers fell for the second time in the day, 6-3. De La Rosa would go two-for-three with two RBI’s, while Marcelletti collected two hits and a walk in the contest. Sophomore Joathan Rivera would get the start, going four innings while giving up three runs (two earned) with three strikeouts. Moreno would come in for relief but would get rocked for three hits and two runs while only being able to collect a single out in the fifth. Diaz came in to relieve him, going one-and-two-thirds innings while only allowing a single hit and striking out one. 

Game three was a turn around for the Pioneers, with the offense coming out firing with six runs in the first two innings, thanks in part to a two run shot off the bat of senior outfielder Ed Pfluger and quick thinking by Point Park base runners on multiple Grenadier errors. The PPU offense would keep rolling, with single runs in the top of the fifth and seventh, before another throwing error by IU Southeast allowed another two runs to score. The Pioneers would continue to pour it on into the top of the ninth, with a two run single off the bat of Pfluger to put the Pioneers up 12-5, which would stand as the final score. 

Senior Jonathon Pacheco would toe the rubber in the final game of the series, going four-and-two-thirds innings while allowing four hits and three earned runs to go along with three strikeouts. Cordoso would go two thirds of an inning, finishing off the fifth for Pacheco and getting a single out in the sixth before giving up a run and striking out one. Diaz would come in for the long save, going three-and-two-thirds innings while giving up a single run and striking out five. Pfluger would be a main piece in the offense, scoring four RBI’s on two hits, while sophomore infielder Isaac Santana would go three-for-five, and junior infielder Luis Hernandez would collect three walks and two RBI’s. 

The Pioneers will be traveling back home to continue play this week, with a RSC match up against Midway University on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, in a three game series. Point Park will then take on Bryant & Stratton-Buffalo in a double header on Monday, April 18, also at home. All home games are streamable through the Point Park Athletics website. The team still has over two weeks worth of games to play for their regular season, which concludes on the final day of the spring semester, April 30 with a road trip to IU Kokomo.