(Peru, Neb.) – A third straight win in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Post-season Baseball Championships has put the Peru State Bobcats into the championship game. The Bobcats will face the winner between Missouri Valley College and MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Wendell Redden Stadium in Joplin, Mo.
Peru State defeated MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday 7-1 to move into the title game. With the win, the 'Cats improved to 37-14 overall.
Game Action All of the scoring came in three half innings as most of the game was controlled by the pitchers.
Mark McGinnity slides into second base with the double that started
the scoring in the fifth inning for Peru State The Bobcats scored all the runs they would actually need in the top of the fifth inning.
Mark McGinnity (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) doubled down the left field line to start the inning.
Jordan Silva (Lynnwood, Wash.) followed with a double of his own to drive in McGinnity.
Chase Phillips (Highland, Calif.) singled to left which moved Silva to third. Silva would score on a sacrifice fly by
Joshua Alonzo (Riverside, Calif.). Kyle Killen (Commerce City, Colo.) singled to right with Phillips advancing to third. On a wild pitch, Phillips scored and Killen advanced to second.
Randy Santiesteban (Hialeah, Fla.) doubled down the left field line to drive in Killen. On a ground out, Santiesteban moved to third.
Adam Quintana (Highland, Calif.) singled up the middle to bring home Santiesteban. Mathew Sontag
(Davie, Fla.) entered to run for Quintana who was pitching. Another double followed by
Seth Walston (Hemet, Calif.), but Peru State ended the inning leaving two on base. At that point the 'Cats led 5-0.
MNU left two on base in the bottom of the fifth without scoring.
Jordan Silva slides into home on Joshua Alonzo's sacrifice flyIn the top of the sixth, after an out, Phillips singled up the middle. After another out, Killen singled to left with Phillips stopping at second. Santiesteban would reach base on a misplayed grounder with Phillips and Killen both being able to come home to score making it 7-0.
The Pioneers would score their lone run in the bottom of the sixth; however, it could have been much worse as MNU had the bases loaded at one point. Quintana was able to work with McGInnity and picked off the runner on third base for the second out before getting a Pioneer to pop up for the third out.
MNU did leave two on base in the bottom of the eighth, but again could not capitalize.
Peru State scored their seven runs on 14 hits and did not have any errors. The Pioneers scored their lone run on 11 hits and committed two errors.
Chase Phillips had two hits in Peru State's win over MNU Killen, Santiesteban, Walston, Silva, and Phillips each had two hits for Peru State. Alonzo, Santiesteban, Quintana, and Silva each were credited with one RBI.
Quintana threw a complete game for his seventh win of the season against no losses. Quintana did allow a season-high 11 hits, but held the Pioneers to just one earned run while striking out six.
MIDAMERICA NAZARENE GAME BOOK Upcoming Game 
Adam Quintana tossed a complete game for
his seventh win of the seasonPeru State will face the winner of MidAmerica Nazarene and Missouri Valley who will play at 1 p.m. on Monday prior to the championship game. With a win, the Bobcats will claim both the regular-season and post-season titles. As it is a double elimination, should Peru State lose, it would force another championship game which would be played at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
On Friday, May 8, the NAIA Championship Selection Committee will announce the 29 automatic berths, one host berth, and 16 at-large selections, as well as, the site for Peru State and the other teams.
