Pioneers Fall to Park, Await At-Large

The Basics
Score: MNU 9 - Park 11
Records: MNU (34-18), PU (33-16)
Location: Ozark Mountain Sports Complex | Ozark, Mo.

OZARK, Mo. - 2-seed MNU fell to 4-seed Park 11-9 in an elimination game in the Heart Conference Tournament on Monday. The Pioneers' hope for an at-large bid to Nationals is in the hands of the NAIA selection committee, as the selection show is on Thursday. Neither team scored in the first three innings, but Park broke through with a solo homer in the top of the 4th. MNU answered in the bottom of the inning with RBIs from Sean Maple and Brysen Hamilton, but Park blew the game open with 4 in the 5th and 6 more in the 6th to take an 11-2 lead. The Pioneers battled back with 4 runs in the 7th - highlighted by RBIs from Noah Castillo, Willy Borquez, and Maple - then made more noise in the bottom of the 9th. Castillo, Dionathan Cornet, and Borquez all singled to start a rally, and Kristian Crespo drove in a run with 1 out. Brentt Olmo singled home another run to put the tying runs on base with 2 outs, but a groundout ended the threat and eliminated MNU from the tournament.

Turning Point
Park's 6-run 6th put MNU in a huge hole.

Individual Leaders
Noah Castillo struck out 3 in 3 innings in a no-decision. Ryan Wilwers struck out 2 in 2.1 innings of relief. And Brentt Olmo (2-6, R, RBI), Noah Castillo (3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB), Willy Borquez (3-5, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI), Sean Maple (2-5, R, 2 RBI), and Brysen Hamilton (3-4, RBI) had multi-hit games.

All-Tournament Team
SP - Zach Trevino
OF - Willy Borquez
DH - Noah Castillo

Up Next
The Pioneers await the selection show on Thursday at 4:00 central.