Williamsburg, KY – Fourth-seed Point Park University jumped out to a 7-1 lead and fended off a late rally to knockoff top-seed Bryan College 8-7 in the elimination bracket of the Williamsburg Bracket of the NAIA Baseball Opening Round Wednesday afternoon at Doyle Buhl Stadium.  With the win the Pioneers improve to 47-8, while the Lions finish the season 41-16.

Point Park notched three straight singles, scoring one run, to lead off the bottom of the first inning.  After an out Richard Perez hit an RBI single into right field to give the Pioneers an early 2-0 lead.

Bryan responded in the top of the second as Fernando Garcia hit a one-out single up the middle.  Garcia came around to score on a Jacob Justice double off the wall in left-center field to cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Pioneers used three walks to load the bases with two outs.  Erik Montero and Richard Perez recorded back-to-back two-run singles to extend the lead to 6-1. Point Park added a run in the third to extend their lead to 7-1.

Bryan battled back in the fifth as the Lions put two runners on for Fernando Garcia, who notched a two-run triple to deep right-center making the score 7-3.  Point Park added a run in the bottom of the inning as Edberg Dominguez hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly to make it 8-3 in favor of the Pioneers.

The next inning, Cody Young struck out but reach based on a wild pitch, before David Scoggins blasted a two-run homer to centerfield cutting the score to 8-5.  Bryan added a run in both the seventh and eighth innings make it a one-run game at 8-7.

Wade Weinburger singled to right to lead off the top of the ninth inning and a single by Garcia gave Bryan a runner in scoring position.  Addison Domingo recorded the final two outs for the save and gave the Pioneers the 8-7 win.

Leading the way for Point Park was Perez who went 3-5 with three RBI.  Dominguez and Hernandez each tallied a pair of hits. Cole Horew (5-1) pitched 6.0 innings scattering seven hits and five runs to earn the win. 

Garcia led the way for Bryan going 5-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while Scoggins added a pair of RBI.  Arinson Martinez (4-6) took the loss after pitched 2.0 innings scattering six hits and six runs.

Point Park advances to the championship game against the fourth-seed University of Northwestern Ohio at 1:45 p.m. this afternoon. Bryan is eliminated from the NAIA Championship Opening Round.