The Park University baseball program went four games with Heart of America Athletic Conference opponent, Peru State College on Saturday and Monday, splitting time between Peru, Neb. and Parkville, Mo. The Bobcats won the last three games by one run for the sweep.
Park falls to 9-16 on the season and have hit a rough patch in the Heart with a 3-9 conference record. After this series the Pirates are on a seven-game losing streak in the Heart. Peru State is now 8-8 and 5-3 of the same.
The big story line in this series was the All-Time Career Strikeouts record being broken by
Angel Lebron who reached 175 on Saturday with four strikeouts to overtake Derek Gordon's 172 strikeouts (2011-14). Lebron is from Coamo, Puerto Rico and is studying education with a concentration in Spanish.
Â
GAME 1 | L, 7-11 | Box Score
In the first game of the series, the Pirates and Bobcats each had five run innings during the game. Peru State went ahead 6-0 in the first two innings, but Park cut it to a 6-5 deficit after a shower of extra base-hits in the top of the third.
The third inning began with an RBI double from
Corey Bradford, which set the stage for
Kenneth Melendez and
Zayne Morrow to launch two-run home runs.
Ricardo Hernandez joined the power train with a solo home run in the top of the fifth to tie things up at 6-6.
Two home runs by Wes Bradford of Peru State put his team back on top, including a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth.
Armando Ramirez got the final RBI of the game in the top of the seventh before ending the game, 11-7.
Adam Stilts still has zero walks midway through the season and continued the streak today in 5.2 innings pitched. He had four strikeouts, but the Bobcats earned 10 runs on 13 hits.
GAME 2 | L, 3-4 | Box Score
The style of play shifted to more defensive games for the remaining three games as Park only had five hits and Peru State six in game two.
The Bobcats went ahead 2-0 in the first inning and Park had nothing to show on the scoreboard for four innings.
Lebron struck out his second hitter to lead off the bottom of the third inning and became the all-time career strikeouts leader and finished with four strikeouts on the day.
Park's
Dash Goldston,
Michael Hoffman, and
Bryce Perdieu came in to finish the game on the mound after Lebron, keeping things within reach.
Billy Rivera doubled to leftfield to bring in Melendez and Bradford to tie the game at 2-2. Despite a run coming in for Park off of an error in the top of the seventh, two solo home runs put the Bobcats in position to walk-off on the Pirates 4-3 with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.
GAME 3 | L, 2-3 | Box Score
Similar to previous games, the Bobcats went ahead of Park in the bottom of the first 2-0 at Comfort Field.
Another full list of pitchers came in for Park, but
Hunter Edwards pitched an effective game in four innings of work and did not allow an earned run with three strikeouts.
Brandt Lightner backed up his starter and pitched a scoreless frame in the fifth with one strikeout to give his team a chance.
Park came through to tie the game in the top of the sixth, courtesy of a
Bryce Dye single to score Rivera and then a balk scored
Blake Antle at third.
Mason Sipes, Perdieu, and Hoffman were called up on in the sixth, but the Bobcats scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield to win, 3-2.
GAME 4 | L, 1-2 | Box Score
It was an impressive pitching performance by
Guillermo Gelpi, who pitched a perfect game through five innings.
Park got on the board with a run off of another single from
Bryce Dye for the 1-0 lead.
The first walk and hit for the Bobcats in the next inning tied the game at 1-1. Gelpi finished with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.
A leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh put the Bobcats in a dangerous position. Hoffman was able to strikeout his next batter to keep the baserunner at third, who advanced on a passed ball, but the Bobcats were eventually able to work their second walk-off of the series on a walk. This came about by two intentional walks to create a force out at the plate for Park. The strategy helped the Bobcats in the end, as a bases loaded walk ended the game, 2-1.
Evangel University will come to Comfort Field for the next home series, starting on Friday, March 31 at 1pm.
Watch the live action here.
#ParkUNation
