Park University's baseball program is on a roll with their most recent series win against Benedictine, winning the series with a sweep in Atchison, Kan. on Saturday and Sunday.
It was a special day on Saturday as Head Coach
Cary Lundy earned his 500
th career win in game one, all of which have been at Park.
In game two, the fifth year senior from Blue Springs, Mo. had an exciting game two himself as the new record holder at Park for career saves.
Bryce Perdieu has two saves in 2024 and now stands at eight in his career to overtake Richard Scott (2006-07) and Ethan Smith (2015-16). Â Â
The Pirates have won seven straight Heart of America Athletic Conference games and have won two straight series. Their record has risen to 16-5 on the season and 8-4 in conference play, putting them at No. 5 in the conference standings. The Ravens of Benedictine are now 9-19 overall and 3-9 in the Heart.
GAME 1 | W, 14-5 | Box Score
There was great starting pitching over the weekend, beginning with
Raul Garcia, who lasted six innings and struck out seven Ravens.
Despite five Benedictine runs, the Pirates' offense overshadowed their counterpart with 10 runs from the third inning to the fifth inning.
Two doubles by
Victor Sanchez-Ramos and
Zayne Morrow overtook Benedictine, 3-1, in the top of the third inning.
Yadiel Santana had a solo bomb in the top of the fourth inning, which was followed up by a two-run home run by Sanchez. He would finish the game with four RBI's, while three other Pirates had two-RBI games including Santana,
Gilberto Torres, and
Ricardo Hernandez.
Michael Hoffman ended the day on the mound with a scoreless seventh for the 14-5 win. Park had 17 hits in the game compared to 12 for the Ravens.
For
Cary Lundy this makes for win number 500. He is the first coach at Park University to reach 500 wins in a single sport all at Park. He is a 2022 Park Wall of Honor recipient in his 22nd year as the head coach of Park baseball and he also is a Park alumnus from the class of 1982, where he played baseball, basketball, and cross country.
GAME 2 | W, 4-1 | Box Score
Guillermo Gelpi looked especially good in his start against Benedictine and with less runs altogether, it was needed for him to be at his best. He did not disappoint with nine strikeouts with only one unearned run coming in to score on four hits.
The Pirates got to the lead in a 0-0 game in the top of the fifth with two runs. Morrow hit a double to leadoff the inning, which led to an error and a walk to load the bases for Park.
Alex Rodriguez got an RBI off a catcher's interference call to score the game's first run.
Billy Rivera then brought in the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly.
Benedictine got a run back in the next half inning to which Park responded with a run in the sixth and seventh innings. Sanchez hit his second home run of the series in the sixth and then
Daniel Maldonado scored an unearned run on a fielder's choice in the seventh.
This set the stage for Perdieu to come in for the save in a one, two, three bottom of the seventh. The Ravens went down without a fuss on a flyout and two groundouts to second base to end the game, 4-1.
GAME 3 | W, 2-1 | Box Score
Runs were even more of a premium in game three and
Adam Stilts took the reigns with a complete game. One run for Benedictine scored in the bottom of the first, but after that Stilts tightened up with five strike outs, only three hits, and zero walks in his third win of the year.
The tying run for Park came across in the third inning on a Torres single to score Cory Bradford from third.
In the next half inning, Sanchez scored after the Ravens' pitcher committed an error on
Edward Gonzalez' ball back to the mound. Both of the runs scored by Park were unearned runs, as two errors by Benedictine in those innings proved to be fatal.
Park only had four hits in the game, while Stilts did his thing to win a close 2-1 ballgame.
GAME 4 | W, 4-0 | Box Score
The pitching seemed to get better and better as the series went along, as
Bryan Aguirre nearly went for a no-hitter in game four.
Aguirre allowed his first baserunner in the second inning on a walk, but besides three walks on the day Aguirre with a solid defense behind him did not allow a hit until the bottom of the seventh with one out. Aguirre struck out four batters and moved to 2-1 on the season.
Torres doubled in the top of the first to get the Pirates on the board, but then a base clearing double in the top of the seventh by Hernandez gave the Pirates the extra insurance runs for the 4-0 win.
Park will travel to Clarke University on Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24 in Dubuque, Iowa to continue Heart play.
WATCH
Â
#ParkUNation
