HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Chris Luera led six Pirates with RBIs by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, as Park University moved past Friends University in the opening round of the NAIA Region IV Tournament, 8-3, at Hobart-Detter Field in Hutchinson, Kan.
Park (27-16) also had two-hit outings from Chris Evans (2-for-5), Jesse Kearns (2-for-4) and Brandon Skelton (2-for-4), with Evans recording two RBIs in the fourth.
Friends (29-16) was led by Joe Thibault and Tyler Brown at the plate, each going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Josh Hake, who got the win for Park to move to 9-0 on the season, got out of a jam in the third, balking a pair of runners into scoring position, but after escaping unscathed, the Pirates took the lead when Skelton led off with a double, followed by Peters’ RBI double to make it 1-0.
Park tacked on two more in the third when Peters scored on a wild pitch and Fawks drove in Weedin to make it 3-0.
Friends got two in the fourth on RBIs by Thibault and Brown, but Park extended its lead back to three in the fifth when Evans singled in Peters and Weedin to make it 5-2.
Park posted a single run in the sixth followed by a Friends score in the seventh on an Austin Stading sac fly, but the Pirates managed to put the game away in the bottom of the seventh, getting RBIs from Luera and Brett Gordon to make it 8-3.
Jake Russell came on with one out in the seventh for Park, getting a strike out and fly out to right to end the inning and the Friends threat with a runner in scoring position. Russell pitched the final two innings for Park, earning his second save of the year.
The win, which came after the earliest Pirate start time of the season (9 a.m.), was the 27th for Park and the third this season over a team from the KCAC. Park will play its third KCAC opponent and its fourth game of the season against the conference Friday.
The game was originally scheduled for Thursday night, but due to weather conditions in Central Kansas, the game has been postponed to Friday morning.
