The Park University baseball program continued Heart of America Athletic Conference play, facing Baker University on Monday and Tuesday. Baker earned wins in the last three games, while the Pirates opened the series a victory.

Weather continues to play a role in these early conference games, as two date changes and a location switch to Baldwin City, Kan. on the last day occurred.

Park's record is now 9-12 and 3-5 in conference matchups The Wildcats are now 7-1 in the Heart and 15-9 on the season.

The Pirates were outscored in the series 34-20 by the Wildcats with 17 of Baker's runs coming in the fifth inning or later. Park's offensive damage came in the middle innings with 20 runs scored between the second and fifth innings.

Park had five doubles and two home runs in the series. Zayne Morrow and Kenneth Melendez each had one of each of those extra base-hits, while the other three doubles were each hit by different players.

Hernandez led Park with four RBI's for the series and joined Billy Rivera with five hits. Morrow had three RBI's in the series and leads Park on the season with 22 runs driven in.

Park had 13 errors compared to Baker's nine. And from a pitching stand point, Park had four more walks than the Wildcats and Baker had nine more strikeouts as a staff, 28-19.

GAME 1 | W, 6-2 | Box Score

The first game of the series was a great start for the Pirates against the Wildcats in the series. Despite Baker scoring a run in the first inning, the Pirates responded well in the bottom half of the inning with a three spot.

The Pirates took the lead off of a Ricardo Hernandez double to the right-center gap to score Yadiel Santana from second.

Zayne Morrow reached on an error by the shortstop, which allowed the next two runs to score.

This combo showed up again in the bottom of the third, as Hernandez earned another RBI off of a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Morrow laid into his pitch the very next at-bat and sent a solo home run over the right center fence to extend the lead to 5-1.

Adam Stilts pitched a quality game on the hill and only allowed a solo home run in the fifth inning for his second earned run. He has demonstrated he can command the zone with multiple pitches and has his second complete game in a row without allowing a walk. So far, he has 30.1 innings pitched and has yet to throw a walk with a 3-1 record to show for it.

Kenneth Melendez nailed a double to the left center gap to score the game's final run in the bottom of the fifth, leading to Park's 6-2 win.

GAME 2 | L, 5-13 | Box Score

Melendez carried over the power into game two with a two-out, solo home run to give Park a 1-0 lead over the Wildcats in game two.

Two out hitting would continue to be a theme in the contest though, as in the next half inning, Park fell victim to five two-out hits that scored four of the five runs of the inning. Angel Lebron was on the hill for Park and would only last the two innings on the mound.

Two back to back hits had the Wildcats in business in inning three. Dash Goldston battled on the mound, but Baker would score two more runs to go up, 7-1.

A great response from Park amounted to three, two-out runs in the bottom of the third. Billy Rivera singled followed by a Santana walk, and Hernandez and Morrow each singled in a run for their third RBI's of the series. Trent Turner added another RBI to the inning with a single to leftfield to cut the deficit to 7-4.

Four errors in the last four innings did not help the Pirates cause, as they had five as a team for the game.

Goldston, John Brady, Brandt Lightner, and Jesse Sholtz were called up on to close out the game. Brady had three strikeouts, while Lightner had two. Seven earned runs would come in to score to put the game out of reach 13-5.

GAME 3 | L, 4-10 | Box Score

Through the first three innings of play both sides were tied 2-2, all of which were unearned runs to each team's pitcher. Hunter Edwards was given the start in the third game of the series in Baldwin City, Kan. and he pitched five quality innings with only three hits allowed and zero earned runs, despite four scoring in his run column.

Billy Rivera got Park on the board with a single to centerfield, but an error on the centerfielder allowed two runs to come around to score. In the bottom of the fourth inning the game looked to be drifting the Pirates' way with Armando Ramirez' double to score Morrow, claiming the 3-2 lead.

Both teams went back and forth in the fifth. The lead changed hands to the Wildcats with a two-run fifth inning, but Hernandez answered with a single which spurred another outfield error by Baker to score Rivera.

Another big inning took the wind out of the sails though for Park as six runs came in on six hits and two errors for the Wildcats.

Scholtz, Bryce Perdieu, and Mason Sipes were called upon for relief appearances in the sixth and seventh to finish the game.

GAME 4 | L, 5-9 | Box Score

In the final game of the series, The Wildcats were able to string together runs late in the game to overtake Park.

Guillermo Gelpi started off the game on the rubber for Park with 4.2 innings pitched and striking out four. With the exception of the first and fifth innings, Gelpi was able to throw three consecutive scoreless innings. In the second, he especially competed through a difficult moment and struck out two Wildcats with the bases loaded.

Down 2-0, Daniel Maldonado came up with a big two-out double to tie the game at 2-2. Morrow led off the inning with a double of his own to jump start the inning.

Another two runs would score for Park in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded a fielder's choice brought in Ramirez, but an error on the shortstop would allow Brandon Walker to come around as well, pushing Park to a 4-2 lead.

Three runs came in to score in the top of the fifth for the Wildcats as they snatched back the lead, 5-4.

The third error of the game allowed Park to move runners into scoring position and Park's Ramirez grounded out to score Luis Martinez from third. '

The Wildcats had success in the sixth inning for the second game in a row and scored four go-ahead runs on three hits, two walks, and one error.

Trailing 9-5, Park was unable to mount a comeback in the last two innings and dropped the final game of the series.

Four more Pirates got innings on the mound in the game, including Raul Garcia, Morrow, Sipes, and Michael Hoffman.

The Pirates continue Heart play at home against Baker University Saturday and Sunday March 18 and 19 at Comfort Field at noon both days. Watch the live action here.