CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- The Midway University baseball team opened up play in the River States Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday, May 3, when they took on the No. 2 seed Point Park (Pa.) at VA Memorial Stadium.
The Pioneers (42-7) – who are also ranked No. 16 in the NAIA Top 25 – had their offense on full display as they plated 11 runs on 13 hits en route to the 11-2 victory over the Eagles (24-23).
The loss drops the Eagles into the consolation bracket as they will need to battle back in order to defend last year's crown. Luther Bramblett's team returns to action on Friday, May 4, at 11 a.m. ET when they take on Brescia (Ky.) in an elimination game.
Midway starter, Brandon Aoki (Camarillo, Calif.) was making his return to the mound after not starting in his final scheduled start of the regular season. The junior left-hander got a quick 1-2-3 inning in the first frame, but ran into trouble in the second.
The Pioneers scored five runs on seven hits after Aoki got two quick outs in the inning. Point Park added two in the fourth and three in the fifth to run their lead to 10-0 as Midway would be forced to score in the seventh to avoid a run-rule loss in seven innings.
The Eagles got on the board with two runs on two hits. The first run came on a solo home run by Kurt Paldino. The freshman from Overland Park, Kans. opened the inning by turning on a 2-1 pitch and hitting it on a line over the left field fence for his fourth home run of the season.
Barrett Croslin (Russellville, Ky.) followed his teammate's home run with a single to left. He then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The senior then scored on an RBI groundout by Koy Lindsey (Sonora, Ky.).
Aoki was chased after five innings on the mound as Noah Marion (Louisville, Ky.) and Anibal Salado (Santo Domingo, D.R.) each made an appearance out of the bullpen. Marion allowed one run in two innings, while Salado didn't allow a base runner in his only inning of work.
Midway got just one base runner on after the seventh inning as they struggled to solve the Point Park pitching duo of Nicholas Beardsley and Jake Forgrave. Beardsley fanned seven allowing two runs on three hits in seven innings, while Forgrave allowed just one hit in two innings.
Barrett Croslin had two of Midway's four hits in the contest. Kurt Paldino and Zach Lampreia accounted for the other two hits, while Paldino and Koy Lindsey each had an RBI.
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