Point Park postseason run ends in championship game of NAIA Opening Round

QUICK RECAP

UPLAND, Ind. -- No. 4 seed Point Park University came up just short of another trip to the NAIA World Series ending its season Wednesday night, May 17 at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round going 1-1 on the day and 3-2 for the tournament. The Pioneers finished the season with a record of 39-17 after making it to the finals of the Upland (Ind.) Bracket and within one round of making it to Lewiston, Idaho, for the NAIA World Series.

Point Park made it to the championship round after pulling another win over No. 1 seed Tennessee Wesleyan (43-12) to begin play on Wednesday. The Pioneers beat the Bulldogs, 6-5, in 10 innings with Carlos Burroughs' RBI triple in the top of the 10th scoring Eddie Javier Jr. from first base for the win. That was enough for Javier Cardoso to earn the victory in relief closing out the final 3.1 innings after Easton Klein had pitched the first 6.2 innings strong.

The Pioneers unfortunately had their run end later that night with a loss to No. 2 seed Taylor (Ind.) (40-15) by a score of 12-0. The Pioneers ran out of steam as the No. 4 seed and had a 3-2 record this week in Upland. Taylor moved on to the NAIA World Series with a 3-0 record in the tournament.

POINT PARK 6, TENNESSEE WESLEYAN 5 (10 INN.)
Carlos Burroughs came through with a clutch triple in the top of the 10th to lift the Pioneers to the extra-innings victory. It was the second time the Pioneers beat Tennessee Wesleyan, the No. 4-ranked team in the NAIA Top 25. Point Park came back from a deficit of 4-1 and later had to come back from a 5-3 deficit. 

Easton Klein pitched into the seventh inning but had to leave with that 5-3 deficit. Pitching on one day's rest, the senior from Pittsburgh gave up five runs on just two swings -- a grand slam and an RBI double, both of which were by by Carson Ford in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. Klein struck out seven and walked just one in 6.2 innings.

Javier Cardoso, also pitching on one day's rest, came in to lock up the final 3.1 innings adding seven strikeouts, just one walk and allowing zero runs on two hits. That earned him the win and pushed his season record to 10-2. 

Point Park tied the score at 5-5 with two runs in the eighth. Carlos Martinez, who had two hits and two RBIs, came up with an RBI single to get within a run. Then Burroughs delivered a sacrifice fly to score Javier Jr. with the tying run. 

Cardoso held things there stranding the go-ahead run at third in the eighth with a strikeout and at second in the ninth with a grounder back to the mound. With the 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 10th, a ground out, a fly out and a strikeout ended it retired the Bulldogs in order.

Point Park had taken a 1-0 lead on Isaac Santana's RBI double in the fifth. It nearly went out for a homer, but it gave the Pioneers their only lead until the final score. 

Martinez pulled the Pioneers within 4-2 with his run-scoring hit in the sixth. The Pioneers got another big swing from Jordon Campbell on a solo homer in the seventh. That made the score 4-3. 

Tennessee Wesleyan used three pitchers with Sam Rochard going 6.0 innings and allowing just two runs on five hits. Kyle Bloor gave up the tying runs in 1.2 of middle relief. Blake Peyton was one of the top starters for the Bulldogs this year, and he pitched the final 2.1 striking out four but walking three and giving up the go-ahead triple to take the loss. 

TAYLOR (IND.) 12, POINT PARK 0
The Pioneers ran out of steam but left the NAIA Opening Round with their heads held high and very proud despite the final loss. Point Park came up short playing its fifth game in a little over three days whereas Taylor was fresh going into the championship round 2-0. 

Javier Cardoso continued on getting the start in the championship round versus Taylor, the second game of the day. Taylor struck for three runs in the bottom of the first, and Cardoso was saddled with the loss tossing the first two innings and trailing 3-0. Cardoso and Klein each threw over 11.0 innings from Monday to Wednesday.

Taylor got some big hits as the Pioneers got into their bullpen, and the lead was too big to overcome. The Pioneers had their chances the first few innings, but the Taylor defense snuff out potential rallies with double plays to end the first and third. The Pioneers had the bases loaded in the fifth but could not cash in as the score stayed 10-0. 

The Trojans got their 12 runs on nine hits and had the help of nine walks and two errors by Point Park. Seven unearned runs helped to lift the Trojans to their first NAIA World Series in over 50 years. 

SEASON CONCLUSION
Point Park played 10 postseason games with a record of 7-3, which included 5-1 in elimination games. Point Park was one of the hottest teams in the country reaching another championship game of the NAIA Opening Round. Point Park has been to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round four of the last five years reaching the championship round in three of those and making the final three teams in the other. 

Point Park set a school record for home runs in a single season with 83, which beat the previous record of 55 set by the 1986 team that finished third in the NAIA World Series. Jared Campbell had 17 home runs and 73 RBIs, both of which are single-season records at Point Park. The Pioneers posted a team ERA of 3.64, which is ranked sixth in the NAIA.