HONOLULU, Hawaii – Azusa Pacific continued its PacWest swing through the Hawaiian Islands with a doubleheader against Hawaii Pacific on Friday.
Game One – Hawai'i Pacific 8, Azusa Pacific 4
The home team put most of their runs up in the opening innings in claiming the opener.
After the Cougars scored the initial run on an Adrian Tovalin solo homerun, the Sharks put a three spot on the scoreboard. Hawaii Pacific pieced together their runs on four hits. They added to their 3-1 edge in the second inning on a Steven Camberos sacrifice fly.
Azusa Pacific got that run back in the third frame when Michael Staudinger hit a sacrifice fly of his own. The Sharks got breathing room with a two-run bottom of the frame with a Bronson Aiwohi two-run double. The high scoring early innings came to a halt as each team scored one time in the fourth stanza. Heading into the fifth inning the Sharks held a 7-3 edge.
Pablo O'Connor homered to lead off the sixth inning for his fourth long ball of the season. The score remained 7-4 until the Sharks got an RBI single from Reid Akau as the home team doubled up their lead. The Cougars couldn't rally in the final two innings as they put one runner on base.
Kyle Detwiler earned the win by going six innings where he worked around six hits and a walk.
Game Two – Hawai'i Pacific 7, Azusa Pacific 4
Similar to the first game, the Sharks scored early to aid in the doubleheader sweep.
In the first three innings, Hawai'i Pacific scored two runs in each frame. Azusa Pacific crossed the plate once in both the second and third frame. The Cougar runs came from RBI hits from Justin Gomez and Michael Staudinger respectively.
During the sixth inning, the Cougars chipped into their 6-2 deficit by scoring twice. Adrian Tovalin started the inning with his fifth homerun of the season then Pablo O'Connor scored on a Steven Garrett sacrifice fly. Hawai'i Pacific scored a single run in the bottom half of the evening to take a 7-4 edge heading into the final three innings.
Azusa Pacific's best chance to score came in the eighth inning when they brought the tying run to the plate but they couldn't get a run scoring base knock.
Tyler Van Stone earned the win by going six innings and working out six hits, a walk and three wild pitches.
