Point Park comes within one game of NAIA World Series
Point Park comes within one game of NAIA World Series
WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- Point Park University baseball's postseason run ended Thursday one game shy of the NAIA World Series with a 6-1 loss to LSU Shreveport. The Pioneers (40-16) and Pilots (44-14) were last two teams left in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Williamsburg, Ky., bracket with the winner moving on to Lewiston, Idaho, next week.
LSU Shreveport, the No. 2 seed, got the lead early and stayed in control to win the rubber match between the squads. No. 4 seed Point Park and LSU-Shreveport played three times this week with one matchup each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Pioneers won the first meeting to advance to the championship round undefeated at 3-0. The Pilots forced Thursday's winner-take-all game thanks to a victory on Wednesday.
LSU Shreveport proved to be a tough out by winning its eighth straight elimination game on Thursday. The Pilots won five elimination games to capture the Red River Athletic Conference championship and passed all three of their elimination tests this week after losing to Point Park.
One of only two No. 4 seeds to make it to the finals of the opening round, Point Park was among the final 16 teams still alive nationwide. It was the fifth time in the last nine years the Pioneers made the national tournament and the third time they reached an opening round final. Ending the year at 40-16 overall, the Pioneers reached the 40-win mark for the 10th time in program history and the fourth time under head coach Loren Torres.
Point Park had its chances on Thursday but could only get one run on the board as the Pilots had four pitchers combine to cover the 9.0 innings. LSU-Shreveport took a 6-0 lead by scoring in four straight innings from the third through the sixth.
Point Park had Ruben Ramirez pitch the final 3.2 innings to hold the Pilots there, but Point Park's only run was on Carlos Sanchez's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. Sanchez was 3 for 5 to account for three of the Pioneers' seven hits.
Runners left on base were a problem for the Pioneers, who left a total of 12 in the game. They left runners at first and third in the second, left the bases loaded in the fifth and left one runner in each of the other seven innings.
LSU Shreveport made good on its opportunities when they arose. Lead-off man Payton Robertson was a catalyst for the second day in a row going 3 for 4. He drove in runs with two of those hits. Ryne Ray had the only other RBI hit for the Pilots and was 2 for 3.
Sacrifice flies were big for the Pilots, who had three of them on the day. Each of those opportunities was setup by a Point Park miscue -- a balk and two errors -- that allowed a runner to go an extra 90 feet and reach third with less than two outs.
Point Park had three pitchers work ahead of Ramirez. Marco Quintanar got the start and pitched 2.2 innings followed by Easton Klein and Jonathan Pacheco with 1.1 inning apiece. LSU-Shreveport got 12 hits with 10 of them being singles.
Ramirez did not give up a hit or a run in his relief outing to finish off an impressive showing in the opening round. The NAIA's ERA leader (1.25 ERA) pitched in four of the five games covering 12.2 innings while striking out 19 and walking one. He was 2-0 with a save this week factoring in all three of the Pioneers' victories. He gave up 10 hits and four runs.
Point Park outfielder Jouseph Renovales was 1 for 2 on Thursday to notch his 81st hit of the season (55 games). That tied Dana Duscosky for the second-most hits in a single season in program history. Renovales, who ended up hitting .391 (81 for 207), was just three hits off the Point Park record of 84 hits by Dave Dickson. Renovales had the most hits by a Point Park player without the benefit of playing in the NAIA World Series as Dickson did when the Pioneers finished third in 1986 and Duscosky did in 1998.
Sanchez's 3 for 5 day put him with a .402 batting average for the season (45 for 112). Another milestone this week was Ed Pfluger reaching 100 career RBIs. His solo homer on Wednesday gave him that milestone and his 50th RBI of the year. In 107 career games, Pfluger is hitting .341 with 19 homers and 100 RBIs.