Point Park beats Fisher (Mass.) 20-3 to begin NAIA Opening Round

UPLAND, Ind. -- Carlos Martinez and Carlos Burroughs each hit a grand slam to highlight Point Park University's 20-3 victory over Fisher (Mass.) College in the first game of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Upland (Ind.) Bracket on Monday morning.

The No. 4 seed Pioneers (37-15) advance to play No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (42-9) in the next game on Monday night, May 15 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Fisher (29-24) fell to the loser's bracket Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. ET. The five-team, double-elimination tournament continues through May 18 with the winner advancing to the NAIA World Series. 

Point Park's offensive explosion -- which has seen the Pioneers score 53 runs in its last three games -- turned a 2-1 deficit into a 20-3 lead through seven innings. The Pioneers exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth -- highlighted by Martinez's slam -- for a 12-2 lead. 

The Pioneers added three more runs in fifth, and the five-run seventh was capped off by Burroughs' grand slam to reach the 20-run mark. 

Point Park had 12 hits and drew 13 walks versus nine different Fisher pitchers. The Falcons had 13 hits versus four pitchers for Point Park.

Easton Klein started and pitched 5.0 innings for the Pioneers. He earned the win with three runs allowed during his outing. Fisher managed a 2-1 lead by getting most of their nine hits versus Klein early on. But Klein settled in to get a strikeout to leave the bases loaded in the second and a punchout to leave two on in the fourth. After Point Park got him the run support, Klein retired the Falcons in order in the fourth. 

Nine different Point Park players had a hit. Omar Morillo was 2 for 5 with a double and four runs scored as a catalyst at the top of the lineup. Jared Campbell was 1 for 1 with a double, an RBI, two runs and three walks. Michali Brito drove in three runs and scored twice to keep the offense moving.

Isaac Santana went 1 for 3 with a walk, RBI and two runs. Justin Oakley walked three times, scored twice and was 1 for 3. 

Martinez and Burroughs did major damage as the No. 8 and 9 hitters in the order. Martinez was 2 for 4 with three runs, five RBIs and a walk. Burroughs was 2 for 4 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk. 

Point Park's bullpen put up 4.0 scoreless innings. Ramon Rodriguez pitched the sixth and seventh scoreless on three hits. Adam Zulka worked a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts, and Kenneth Rolon pitched a scoreless ninth on one hit to close it out. 

The Point Park-Tennessee Wesleyan winner will advance to the winner's bracket final on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The loser will have to play Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. in an elimination game to advance to Wednesday. 

Live video and live stats are provided for all games of the tournament with links at PointParkSports.com