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Azusa Pacific University Athletics

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11
Winner Point Loma PLNU 33-17-1
9
Azusa Pacific APU 28-17
Winner
Point Loma PLNU
33-17-1
11
Final
9
Azusa Pacific APU
28-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Point Loma PLNU 0 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 4 11 13 4
Azusa Pacific APU 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 2 9 8 4

W: Paul Wardell (2-0) L: Litchfield, B.J. (4-3) S: Matt Tuttle (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Crusaders Go Extra Mile to Eliminate Cougars

AZUSA, Calif. –  As if playing a full 9 innings when your back is up against the wall isn't enough, Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene decided to go an entertaining 11.
 
Nevertheless, the Cougars were never able to get over their wall that has become the Crusaders as Point Loma notched an 11-9 win over the Cougars in the NAIA Region II Playoffs, eliminating Azusa Pacific from the postseason and thus ending the Cougars' season.
 
Point Loma has had the Cougars' number all season, winning all 5 games, including 3 in Azusa.
 
All-NAIA Region II first baseman Matt Mamula was the difference today, hitting a pair of solo home runs to give Point Loma Nazarene a 6-4 lead, then he was hit by a pitch with 2 outs in the top of the 11th inning to drive in the eventual winning run that lifted the Crusaders to the win.
 
With the score tied 7-7 in the top of the 11th, pinch-hitter Ryan Hoover led off with a double to left center, and Joe Bisant then singled him to third.  Cougar reliever B.J. Litchfield then forced a groundout that moved Bisant to second.  After an intentional walk and a force out at home, the Cougars had 2 outs, and the Crusaders had the bases loaded.  Mamula was then hit by a pitch forcing home Bisant.  Ben Crombie then followed up another walk from Litchfield with a 2-out, 2-RBI single to center off of the Cougars' George Barnes to give the Crusaders an 11-7 cushion.
 
Azusa Pacific made things interesting when it loaded the bases with no outs, and Eric Ordorica drew a walk.  However, Point Loma reliever Matt Tuttle forced Mike Soto into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Victor Ambruso from third to make it 11-9.  Tuttle then induced a game-ending groundout by Alex Valadez.
 
However, Mamula was the main story as he hit his 14th home run of the year to lead off the second inning and give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead.  He then added his 15th in the seventh to give PLNU a 6-4 lead.
 
Soto tied the game with a 3-run shot in the fourth, and the Cougar took the lead with an RBI single by Ambruso in the fifth, the second of 5 lead changes in the game.  Trailing 6-4, the Cougars scored 3 in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead, however, the Crusaders' Brad Vericker tied it with his first home run of the playoffs in the ninth.
 
Ambruso and Collin Kyte each had a pair of hits, and Soto drove in 4 runs.  Litchfield, making his NAIA-record 94th career appearance worked 4 innings, his longest outing of the season, in suffering the loss to fall to 4-3 on the season.
 
With the loss, the GSAC Champion Cougars finish the 2002 season 28-17 overall. 
 
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