All-GSAC outfielder Brian Griffin, who didn't know until an hour before the game whether he was on the playoff roster, was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and drilled his third home run of the season. Senior third baseman Bobby Sanchez was 2-for-5 with another pair of RBIs and a home run as well.

That was enough for freshman pitcher Kelly Strickland, who limited LC-State's potent offense (the Warriors average just over 10 runs a game) to just 6 hits and 3 runs while striking out 5 over 6 innings.

"Anytime you play the No. 1 team, you have to have a quality effort, timely hits and divine intervention," said 14-year Cougar coach Tony Barbone. "We got all of that today."

Azusa Pacific jumped out to a surprising 2-0 lead with a pair of second-inning runs off Warrior starter John Foster. Sophomore Erik Sampson's 1-out double off the left-centerfield wall scored John Knott from second base. Griffin, who was playing his first game in 18 days because of a severely sprained ankle, then singled to center, scoring Chris Ewing.

LC State answered with a solo run in its next at-bat when shortstop Chad Kline led off the third inning with his eighth home run of the season. The Warriors took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Ray Vodegel connected on his eighth home run as well, a 2-out, 2-run shot to straightaway centerfield. However, the Cougars answered in their half of the fourth when Griffin led off the inning with his third home run to knot the score at 3-3.

"My biggest concern today was being a liability to the team," said Griffin, who tweaked his bad ankle on a leap at the fence attempting to nab Cline's home run. "I had some nervousness before the game."

So too did Strickland, who collected the biggest win in his young collegiate career.

"I settled down when I got those 2 strikeouts in the first inning," said Strickland, who didn't have a strikeout in 7.1 innings of work in his last outing vs. Cal Baptist on Friday. "When you get a start you deal with long term nervousness, and it started for me last night."

Strickland retired 7 of the final 8 Warriors he faced, giving way to southpaw Jared Powell at the start of the seventh inning. Powell shut the door, surrendering just 1 hit in each of the final 3 innings to preserve Azusa Pacific's first victory over the 9-time NAIA national champion Warriors, who had won 5 straight over the Cougars since 1992.

"Kelly is beyond his years," said Barbone. "I'm sure his heartbeat was a buck-fifty, but he stayed in there."

The Cougars took the lead for good in the fifth inning when Knott led off with a single to centerfield. A Larry Long sacrifice put Knott at second. After a Ewing single and a walk to Josh Olsen to load the bases, Karel Castro hit a grounder that the Warriors were unable to turn into an inning-ending double play, allowing Knott to score from third with a go-ahead run and a 4-3 Cougar lead.

The Cougars added an insurance run in the sixth. Sanchez was attempting to sacrifice Grady Sain to second base. However, Sain was picked off. Now able to swing away, Sanchez blasted his third home run of the season over the right field fence to give the Cougars a 5-3 cushion. In the eighth, Sanchez pushed across another run with a 2-out single to center that plated Sain to give the Cougars their 6-3 verdict.

If playing the NAIA's No. 1-ranked team wasn't difficult enough today, Azusa Pacific now gets the defending national champion Albertson College on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Coyotes, who came in as the region's No. 4 seed, pasted No. 3 seed The Master's, 14-4, in a mercy-ruled 8-inning game. In the day's other first-round game, top-seeded Biola yielded 4 runs in the final 2 innings, including an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth, to fall to No. 6-seed Western Oregon, 4-3. Thus, the region's top 3 seeds all lost to the bottom 3 seeds on the opening day of play.

Thursday's action begins at 9 a.m. with a clash of the Titans, Lewis-Clark State and Biola, a pair of Top-10 ranked teams with their seasons hanging in the balance. Western Oregon and The Master's meet at noon, followed by Azusa Pacific and Albertson at 3 p.m.