AZUSA, CALIF. -- Throughout the regular season, Azusa Pacific pitching was nothing more than t-ball practice for Cal Baptist hitters. In their first 4 meetings, CBU tattooed Cougar pitchers for 54 runs in just 41 innings of play. So imagine the Lancers' delight when they earned an opportunity to face Azusa Pacific in a 2-out-of-3 GSAC playoff series for a berth into next week's NAIA West Regional Playoffs. And after last night's dramatic ninth-inning come-from-behind 5-4 Lancer victory to take a 1-0 series lead, Cal Baptist seemed to be a lock to for another regional playoff berth. Especially since it was facing those Azusa Pacific hurlers.
However, led by senior Fritz Maskrey, the Cougar pitching staff stepped up to the occasion and held Cal Baptist to just 5 runs in 18 innings of play to lead Azusa Pacific to 2-0 and 8-5 victories over the Lancers and give the Cougars a 2-1 series victory over Cal Baptist.
Maskrey picked a fine time to record Azusa Pacific's first complete-game shut out in 2 seasons (he fired one at Hawaii Pacific in 1997 as well), limiting Cal Baptist to just 4 hits over 9 innings while striking out 6 and walking 1. At one point, he retired 14 consecutive batters and faced only 1 serious scoring threat. With Lancers at first and third with 1 out in the sixth inning, Maskrey induced Lancer shortstop Justin Ott into what turned out to be a spectacular double play to end the inning. Ott's grounder up the middle was scooped by Cougar second baseman Grady Sain who flipped the ball out of his glove to shortstop David Ayala, who in turn bare-handed the toss and fired to first base to narrowly get Ott and preserve the shut out.
The Cougars scored a pair of unearned runs to post the victory, plating 1 in the fourth and another in the fifth. Ott bobbled Justin Duarte's grounder to lead off the fourth. After being sacrificed to second, pinch-runner Scott Binder came home on Larry Long's 2-out single to center to give the Cougars' a 1-0 lead.
Ayala then led off the fifth with a double. After Lancer second baseman John Holmes misplayed a Bobby Sanchez grounder with 1 out, Ayala came home on another ground out by John Knott. That was more than enough for Maskrey, who improves to 10-3 on the season.
In the nightcap, the Cougars exploded for 6 runs in the second inning to take a quick 6-1 lead. Knott's grand slam, his 13th home run of the season, capped the 6-run out bust. However, Cal Baptist rallied to within 6-4 after Mark Pashcal led off the fifth inning with a solo home run. Cougar starter Jamey Stephens, who had been shellacked for 13 runs in just 6.2 innings in 2 previous starts this season vs. Cal Baptist, danced around 11 hits that he surrendered to CBU, thanks in part to 6 strikeouts and another Cougar double play. The Cougars scored in just 2 innings of play, but all 8 Azusa Pacific runs came with 2 outs in those innings.
For the day, Ayala was 5-for-8 at the plate with 2 runs scored. Long was 4-for-8 with 3 RBIs, including 2 that came off a single to shallow right in the seventh inning of the second game. In his final appearance at home after an outstanding 2-year career, 2-time All-GSAC pick John Knott was just 1-for-7 on the day, but the 1 hit was his first grand slam ever as a Cougar.
With the win, Azusa Pacific, which improves to 34-16 and is making its tenth appearance in the regional playoffs since 1981, heads to the 6-team NAIA West Regional which is hosted by GSAC regular season champ Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., May 12-15. Cal Baptist has its season come to an end at 24-27.
