Cougars Go Long To Beat Coyotes

AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific belted 4 home runs, including 3 in one inning, and then rode the arm of David Doyle (Lynwood, Wash./Lynnwood HS) to a 13-2 victory over Cal State San Bernardino in both team's season-opener in Azusa Wednesday afternoon.

John Knott (Covina, Calif./Gladstone HS) and Bobby Sanchez (Walnut, Calif./Walnut HS) each hit 2-run homers, and Karel Casto (Glendale, Calif./Burroughs HS) added a solo shot all in the third inning to break open a 2-2 game and send Azusa Pacific to its fourth season-opening win in the past 6 years. Knott, a transfer from Citrus C.C., added another homer to lead off the fifth to push the Cougar lead to 8-2 at the time.

Doyle, making only his third start ever as a Cougar, fired 7 innings of 3-hit baseball, striking out 5 while walking none. He retired the last 10 Coyotes he faced before giving way to the Cougar bullpen. The 2 runs he allowed were both unearned.

The Cougars pushed around Coyote starter Tim Allen for 9 runs on 7 hits through 5 innings. Knott finished the game 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Shane Petrelli (Las Vegas, Calif./Bonanza HS) was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs that came off a seventh-inning double that capped the Cougar scoring.

Coyote second baseman Mike Landers was 1-for-4 with a run scoring single in the third inning that briefly tied the game at 2-2. Cole Holland was 1-3 with a fourth-inning single that would prove to be Cal State San Bernardino's last hit of the game. Doyle and Cougar relievers Bobby Cowan and Fritz Maskrey retired 18 of the final 20 Coyote batters.

Azusa Pacific improves to 1-0 on the season while Cal State San Bernardino falls to 0-1.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Fritz Maskrey: P; 6' 2"; Junior; R/R

#27 John Knott: P/1B; 6' 3"; Junior; L/L

#31 Bobby Cowan: P; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#34 Bobby Sanchez: INF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#35 David Doyle: P; 6' 4"; Senior; R/R

#23 Shane Petrelli: INF; 6' 1"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#21 Fritz Maskrey
: 6' 2"; Junior; R/R
: P

#27 John Knott
: 6' 3"; Junior; L/L
: P/1B

#31 Bobby Cowan
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: P

#34 Bobby Sanchez
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#35 David Doyle
: 6' 4"; Senior; R/R
: P

#23 Shane Petrelli
: 6' 1"; Junior; R/R
: INF