The No. 5 seeded Park University baseball program traveled to Ozark, Mo. at Ozark Mountain Sports Complex, the site of the 2025 Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament. From May 1-3, the Pirates went 1-2 in their matchups with No. 4 Mount Mercy University, No. 1 Grand View University, and No. 6 Baker University.

The Pirates were in three one run games, each in a nine-inning duration. Park defeated Mount Mercy 6-5 in the opening game, but fell to Grand View 6-5 and Baker 11-10.

The Pirates closed out 2025 with a 24-20 overall record, the 17^th time that 24^th year head coach Cary Lundy has won over 20 games in a season.

Gilberto Torres and Ricardo Hernandez, both seniors from Puerto Rico, went to the top of Park's all-time records in the tournament. Torres with 59 runs scored this season passed R.J. Nab's single season runs scored record of 57 from 2004. Hernandez in his fourth season at Park smacked his 46^th career double to overtake a former teammate, Bryce Dye, who had 45 doubles from 2019-2023.

Mount Mercy, W 6-5 | Box Score
Mount Mercy came into the contest with a 29-30 record in 2025, including a 1-3 series loss to the Pirates earlier this March. Of course, Mount Mercy and Park faced one another in the 2024 Heart Tournament Championship to which both teams earned automatic bids to 2024 NAIA Opening Rounds. This year, the Mustangs reached the Heart Championship game with No. 2 Central Methodist and as the tournament runner-up, they will advance to nationals for a second straight season.

Park had to come from behind in this one, but had late inning heroics to overtake Mount Mercy 6-5.

Raul Garcia competed well for Park with five innings pitched on the mound. The Mustangs were able to get a key extra-base hit on Garcia in the first inning to get to a 1-0 lead.
In a hurry, the Mustangs got out to a 4-0 lead with another three runs off of another RBI double and a two-run home run in the top of the third.

It was the first home run in the career of a long-time Pirate Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the third inning and then another senior, from the Parkville area, Zayne Morrow added to that with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Mount Mercy waited another inning but tacked on another run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single.

The bullpen for Park shutout the Mustangs in the last four innings though to keep the Pirates in it. Sebastian Del Olmo, a senior from Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, pitched two strong innings, allowing three hits. Eddie Freidel has come on at the right time for the Pirates at the tail-end of the season and pitched two shutout innings to close things out without allowing any hits and striking out two batters.

Jake Lufft would play an instrumental role in the remainder of the game, starting with an RBI single to left field. Evan Johnson came through in the clutch with a single to centerfield to tie the game at 5-5.

Lufft came back up in the bottom of the eighth inning and put a charge into a double off the centerfield wall for the go-ahead run, 6-5.

Freidel would move to 4-0 on the season. Morrow and Lufft both led the Pirates with three-hit games a piece.

Grand View, L 5-6 | Box Score
The Pirates and Grand View were in for a game that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. These teams split in Des Moines, Iowa in April and the Vikings came into the game 34-9.
The Pirates got off on the right foot immediately with an RBI groundout by Gilberto Torres to give Park a 1-0 lead.

Grand View wasted no time and got on the board to tie the game 1-1 through the first inning.

Johnson got his third RBI between the first two games with an RBI single to left field to score Lufft. Rodriguez had a productive at-bat and tacked on another RBI on a groundout to score Yadiel Santana.

The Pirates held on to the 3-1 lead briefly, as the Vikings mirrored Park with a two-run second inning on a two-RBI double, 3-3.

Jake Beckmann, a senior from Frontenac, Kan., settled in on the mound and threw scoreless third and fourth innings. Still, the Vikings remained on the offensive and took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-RBI single up the middle, 5-3.

Beckmann ended his day with 4.1 innings pitched and struck out five batter and those five runs would be credited to him. Del Olmo finished out the fifth inning and did not allow a hit.
Hank Holdenried pitched a scoreless sixth inning, bringing the Pirates to the plate in the top of the seventh. Park did not disappoint with Hernandez' 46^th double that scored Billy Rivera. An error kept the Pirates alive and scored Blake Antle for the tie, 5-5.

The Vikings responded though with a run in the seventh and held onto the lead in the last two innings for the 6-5 win. Both teams had 10 batters left on base. It was a tough break for Park, who had bases loaded and one out in the top of the eighth.

This time, Santana and Rivera led Park with three-hit games.

James Hayes also would come in for the bottom of the eighth and threw a 1-2-3 inning.

Baker, L 10-11 | Box Score
It was a high-scoring affair between Park and Baker on Saturday in the first meeting of 2025 between these programs. Baker entered the game, also facing elimination, with a 26-23 overall record.

It was a tough start for the Pirates, as seven runs came in to score on six hits and one error. The throwing error would have ended the inning with only four runs coming in, but the prolonged inning amounted to three more unearned runs.

In the top of the third, the Pirates nearly got it all back with a six-run, seven hit, and two error inning.

Both Rodriguez and Rivera hit RBI singles to make it 7-2. A throwing error brought in a third run, but then Zayne Morrow hit a three run home run to make it 7-6, a big moment for the senior of three years at Park.

Guillermo Gelpi got the last out of the first inning and then would go on to pitch the next 5.2 innings and only allowed three hits and struck out eight.

Baker would get some run support in the bottom of the third though, aided by a second throwing error that led to a run. A double that same inning scored two more Wildcats and they led 10-6.

Park kept chipping away with an RBI double from Rivera in the fourth inning.

The Pirates did get another run in the top of the seventh, but it could have been more as a double-play with the bases loaded put a stop to the Park momentum, 10-8.

Three walks in the bottom of the seventh gave the Wildcats their 11^th run to make it 11-8 and Del Olmo took over for the last 1.2 innings and kept the Wildcats hitless.

With three outs to work with, Johnson doubled to get Park in business. Then a throwing error opened the door further and scored Johnson, 11-9. Rodriguez singled to centerfield to make it a one-run game. Rivera singled, putting the tying run on second with one out, but another double play ended Park's season, 11-10.

Seven Pirates had multiple hits in the game, including Rodriguez with four hits and Rivera with three. The Pirates also had four doubles in the game and 18 hits for the game.