ST. GEORGE, Utah – Despite not getting the hoped for sweep, the Cougars are in position to get the series win after splitting Friday's doubleheader against Dixie State.
Heading into the Saturday finale, Azusa Pacific has taken two of the first three games from the 17th ranked Trailblazers. The Cougars will take a 20-17 overall record and 15-8 PacWest mark into that nine-inning affair. After Friday's twinbill, Dixie State is 31-10 and 19-8 respectively.
Game One – Azusa Pacific 8, Dixie State 1
After being held scoreless in their first four innings, the Cougars got into groove as they scored in each of the last five innings to pull away for the win.
In the early stages both teams had their chances but neither team broke through until the fourth inning. Dixie State scored their only run when Bryce Feist, who started the inning with a double, scored on a balk.
From that point the Cougars offense took over. Cam Bennett scored the first run when he raced home from second base on a one-out Mitch Dergazarian double. With two-out Dergazarian came around to score on a wild pitch. Azusa Pacific scored a pair of unearned runs the following frame. Mario Morales scored on a throwing error then Bennett hit an RBI single to score Luke Huerta.
In the seventh inning, Pablo O'Connor hit a homerun for the second straight night as he launched the first pitch from Dylan Fife over the left field wall. It was the last run of the evening for the Trailblazers starting pitcher as the Cougars handed him his first loss of the season.
While the Cougars didn't need any further insurance runs, they tacked on one in the eighth inning with a Michael Staudinger RBI base knock which scored Bennett. The final two runs came on a Steven Garrett RBI single and a Cam Bennett fielders choice ground out in the final inning.
Jonny Reid earned the win on the mound as he scattered 11 hits in his 7.1 innings of work. The left hander struck out five in his 120-pitch effort.
Bennett went 3-for-5 at the dish with two runs scored and driving in two additional runs. He also stole his team leading sixth base of the season.
Game Two – Dixie State 9, Azusa Pacific 6
Neither team had problems putting runs on the scoreboard as each squad's offense was ready while taking advantage of miscues from the opposition.
After an Adrian Tovalin hit his PacWest leading 13th home run of the season in the first inning, the Trailblazers responded by scoring three times in their portion of the frame. Samuel Hall's double scored Drew McLaughlin and Tanner Morache. Miles Brice's single two batters later scored Hall.
The Cougars responded as Bennett continued his solid day with an RBI triple to score Luke Huerta. The second inning continued with a Dergazarian sacrifice fly which scored Bennett. Tovalin then gave his team a 4-3 lead when he smashed a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield wall.
Azusa Pacific held that lead until the third inning. Dixie State put a four-spot on the scoreboard as they pieced together those runs on five hits while taking advantage of an error. Undaunted by a 7-4 deficit the Cougars scored twice in the fourth stanza. Dergazarian drove home Bennett for the second time with a double while Pablo O'Connor hit a sacrifice fly to score Dergazarian for an unearned run.
Zeroes dotted the scoring line until the bottom of the sixth inning. The home team added two insurance runs as they took a 9-6 lead heading into the final stanza. Azusa Pacific put one runner on base but couldn't mount a threat.
Bennett's strong day concluded with another three-hit game in his four at-bats as he fell a homerun short of the cycle. The right hander scored twice and had an RBI.
