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18
The Master's TMC 22-10, 12-7 GSAC
19
Winner Azusa Pacific APU 24-6, 14-5 GSAC
The Master's TMC
22-10, 12-7 GSAC
18
Final
19
Azusa Pacific APU
24-6, 14-5 GSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
The Master's TMC 0 2 8 2 0 1 5 0 0 0 18 20 3
Azusa Pacific APU 1 2 0 5 3 0 5 2 0 1 19 19 5

W: Jones, Ben (3-0) L: GOODENOUGH (3-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Joe Reinsch

Cougars Win Wild One With Walkoff

AZUSA, Calif. -- Junior first baseman Brice Cutspec capped a wild rally with a 10th-inning leadoff home run that completed the NAIA's No. 6-ranked Azusa Pacific's 19-18 come-from-behind victory over No. 18 The Master's Wednesday evening.
 
Azusa Pacific trailed by 9 runs in the fourth inning and by 7 runs in the seventh inning, but the Cougars responded both times with 5-run outbursts, and back-to-back bases-loaded hit-batsmen in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 18-18 before the game's only complete scoreless inning sent the game into extra innings.
 
"When you give up 8 runs in the third inning, climb back in the way we did and then give up another 5, that can really knock the wind out of anyone's sails," Cougar head coach Paul Svagdis said. "For (our players) not to give up in that scenario and to see the guys battle back is a testament to the quality of their character."
 
Righthander Ben Jones, who erased the only baserunner he allowed in 3 innings when Joe Zeller was caught stealing after an infield single to lead off the eighth,  retired 8 straight Mustangs batters to bring Cutspec up to lead off the bottom of the tenth with the game still tied. Cutspec hammered David Goodenough's 0-1 offering over the right-field fence for the game-winning solo shot, his 19th of the season and his only hit of the contest.
 
"Brice's home run was Beau Mills-esque," said Svagdis, in reference to the tape-measure shots hit in the 2007 NAIA Super Regional playoffs by Mills, the Cleveland Indians' first-round draft choice in 2007 out of Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College. "(Brice) had the chance to do it in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, but he came back in the tenth, re-tooled his plan and got a little shorter (with his swing), and he had a much better result."
 
The Master's sent 12 batters to the plate in an 8-run, 8-hit third inning, taking a 10-3 lead off 4 different Cougar pitchers in the frame. Azusa Pacific committed 3 errors in the inning, all after base hits into the outfield that gave Mustang baserunners extra bases. Tyler Bersano retired the Cougars in order in the bottom of the third, and The Master's tacked on 2 more runs for a 12-3 lead after Graham Miller and Ben Ives opened the frame with back-to-back doubles.
 
Bersano issued 3 consecutive 1-out walks to load the bases for the middle of the Cougar lineup, and junior catcher Chris Feicht delivered an RBI single to right before Cutspec popped up to right field for a sacrifice fly that cut the lead to 12-5. With 2 outs, junior third baseman Ryan Delgado smashed his first of 2 home runs, a 3-run shot to center that cleared the bases and pulled Azusa Pacific to within 12-8. After freshman righthander Noah Northrop retired the Mustangs in order in the top of the fifth, and sophomore rightfielder Virgil Chavira capped a 3-run frame with a 2-out, full-count 2-run homer to left that trimmed the Cougars' trailing margin to just a single run at 12-11 after 5 innings.
 
The Mustangs plated a single run in the sixth, then tacked on 5 more in the top of the seventh to take an 18-11 lead. Caleb Mintz drove in the first 3 runs of the seventh with a 3-run home run to left. In the bottom of the seventh, a throwing error on a grounder to shortstop allowed senior second baseman Ryan Dowell to score from second base. A hit-batsman and another Mustang error loaded the bases for Delgado with 1 out, and he delivered his second home run of the night, a grand slam to right that pulled the Cougars back to within 2 runs at 18-16.
 
Delgado was 3-for-4 in the game with the pair of home runs and 9 RBIs, and he reached twice more on the bases-loaded hit-batsman in the eighth inning along with a walk. Feicht was 4-for-5, Dowell went 3-for-5, and 3 other Cougars registered a pair of hits in the team's 19-hit attack. The Master's registered 20 hits, with Otto's 4-for-6 effort leading the way. He and Mintz drove in 4 runs each, and Mintz was 1 of 4 Mustangs hitters to post 3-hit performances at the plate.
 
Jones was the only pitcher out of 11 used in the game by both teams who did not give up a run in his outing, and he improved to 3-0 on the season with the victory. Bersano, the Mustangs' starter, was the only pitcher who lasted longer than Jones, going 3.2 innings he was pulled in the fourth inning after surrendering Delgado's 3-run blast.
 
The game was Azusa Pacific's first extra-innings contest of the year, and the victory helped the Cougars keep pace with GSAC leader Point Loma Nazarene, which defeated Concordia Wednesday afternoon. Azusa Pacific is now 24-6 overall, 13-6 GSAC, while The Master's drops to 22-10 overall, 12-7 GSAC. The teams are back in action Thursday afternoon for a 3 p.m. contest in Santa Clarita that will wrap up the 4-game season series.
 
PAUL SVAGDIS
 
"When you give up 8 runs in the third inning, climb back in the way we did and then give up another 5, that can really knock the wind out of anyone's sails. For them not to give up in that scenario and to see the guys battle back is a testament to the quality of their character."
 
"Every game is challenging. Momentum doesn't really mean anything. (The Master's) got swept at their place (Saturday), and they came out and smashed us around the yard. Baseball is just baseball. Some days you come out and you smash runs, other days you go out and you can't get one across the board. Today was a day where both teams were getting them across the board. Brice's home run was Beau Mills-esque. He had the chance to do it in the bottom of the eighth (with the bases loaded), but he came back, re-tooled his plan and got a little shorter (with his swing), and he had a much better result."
 
 
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