Box Score AZUSA, Calif. – What started in the mid-afternoon sun continued until dusk until a winner was decided in an exciting contest.
Both teams battled as the sunset over the L.A. basin before Dixie State pulled out an 8-7 victory in 12 innings.
It was the longest game of the season for Azusa Pacific and its longest since an April 19th 14-inning victory last season against Hawaii Hilo. There were a total of 23 positions players and 13 pitchers used in the 4:21 marathon contest.
The critical four-game set will help determine rankings for the NCAA Division II West Region. The first of three published ranking had the Cougars in the second position while Dixie State, the PacWest Conference leaders, is ranked fifth. The top six teams qualify for the regional championship. Those teams will be revealed during the NCAA Selection show on Sunday, May 10. The next rankings are published on April 29.
Each teams starting pitcher could stake his claim as one of top hurlers in the PacWest. Dixie State's Dylan Fife's earned run average (2.42) was the third best in the league while Cougar starter Josh Staumont's 89 strikeouts leads the conference. Despite the quality arms on the mound, the starters didn't factor into the decision.
Dixie State forced Staumont into a 40-pitch first inning as the visitors grabbed an early 3-0 edge. Leadoff hitter Tanner Morache hit his first homerun of the season with an opposite field shot that just cleared the leftfield wall. Kevin Kline drove home Drew McLaughlin three batters later for the Red Storm second run. Kline scored the final run on attempted double steal; he crossed the plate just before Sam Hall was tagged for the inning's final out.
The Cougars got a run back in their half of the inning when Pablo O'Connor singled home Jordan Brower on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. However, in the third inning the Red Storm got their three-run lead back on a Sam Hall RBI single to centerfield which scored Donald Glover. The persistent Cougars found themselves down just a single run at 4-3 when O'Connor jacked his fourth homerun of the season, a two-run shot which scored Brower, over the scoreboard in left centerfield.
The Red Storm continued their scoring with a single run in the fourth inning on a base knock by McLaughlin scoring Miles Bice. Staumont worked out of a one-out base loaded jam later in the inning which would come back to haunt the visitors. Joe Hutshing made Dixie State pay when he led off the bottom portion of the frame with his third homerun of the season. A Daniel Martin sacrifice fly to deep centerfield scored Brian Magana to knot the score at 5-5.
Relief pitching took over in the fifth and sixth innings as the squads combined to get just one runner into scoring position in those stanzas as the score remained tied at five. The scoreless string stopped when Ryan Santana hit the Cougars third homerun of the day with a deep two-run blast into rightfield to put his team in front 7-5.
The Red Storm had a rally of their own as McLauglin hit his first homerun of the season with a one-out, two-run shot in the eighth inning. Neither team put a runner in scoring position the rest of the way as the game headed to extra innings.
Dixie State put a runner on second base in the 11th inning with one-out but Cougars reliever Luis Martinez got a pair of fly outs to end the threat. After the Cougars went down in order the teams headed to the 12th. The Red Storm put the first two men on base via a walk and an error. After a pitching change Dixie State bunted both runners into scoring position. After an intentional walk by Royal Bradley, Kline notched the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield which scored Bice. Bradley ended the threat with a strikeout of Cam Gust.
Evan Parker completed his longest outing of the season by getting Azusa Pacific in order to hand his team the first win of the series. The righthander got his first win in 2015 by striking out six in 3.1 innings on 50-pitches. The final three relievers for Dixie State went the final five innings and gave-up just one hit.
