AZUSA, Calif. – Make that half a dozen.
By virtue of Friday's doubleheader sweep, Azusa Pacific has won six straight games to raise its record to 26-18 overall and 21-9 in PacWest games. The Cougars will look to continue their winning ways with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon.
Game One – Azusa Pacific 11, Academy of Art 6
It was an all-around team effort in the game one win.
Eight different Cougars had multi-hit games as the Cougars pounded out 17 hits and overcame an early deficit.
Rene Reyes had a team best three hits in his five at-bats while Mitch Dergazarian drove in five runs.
The Cougars pieced together three hits in the first inning as Mychael Goudreau crossed the plate for the first run on a Michael Staudinger base knock. Academy of Art struck right back as they scored four times all with two outs. A Cody Edmond single and an error on the same play allowed the first two runs to score. Greg Ivory and Erick Luna followed with consecutive RBI singles.
Academy of Art added another run in the fourth inning when Luna hit a double down the leftfield line which scored Payton Milone. Azusa Pacific shrugged off their 5-1 deficit using the long ball in the fifth inning. Staudinger hit a one-out solo shot to start the rally then, after three consecutive batters reached base, Dergazarian launched a grand slam into right field. Adrian Tovalin continued the theme with an absolute bomb to centerfield as the home took an 8-5 lead. The final run of the frame came when Pablo O'Connor scored after an error on the second baseman.
The Cougars next run came in the sixth inning as a Dergazarian single drove home Michael Franco. Academy of Art mounted a rally in seventh inning. It was started when Tyler Strawn scored on a Michael Maleski single. The visitors proceeded to load the bases but reliever Billy Sanford got out of the jam.
The high scoring game's final run was scored in the eighth inning when Reyes drove home Franco – scoring his third of the contest.
Joe Hutshing earned the win on the by going 6.2 innings where he struck out six in his 103-pitch performance. The senior moved his record to 8-1 on the season.
Game Two – Azusa Pacific 5, Academy of Art 1
While the offense clicked right along with an 11-hit game, including three homeruns, the
After both starting pitcher kept the offense's fairly quiet through the first third of the game, Adrian Tovalin led off the fourth inning with his PacWest leading 18th homerun of the season. A Justin Gomez opposite field double to left centerfield scored Pablo O'Connor wrapped the scoring in the inning as the Cougars held a 2-0 lead.
With one-out in the fifth inning Cam Bennett blasted his second homerun of the season over the left centerfield fall to up the home team's cushion to 3-0. Tovalin recorded his second RBI of the day with a single down the leftfield line which scored Mychael Goudreau. The long ball parade continued for the Cougars in the sixth inning as Gomez mashed his fifth homerun of the season.
While the offense was doing their job, Cougar starting pitcher Jonny Reid was throwing darts. He threw 8.1 inning and faced five over the minimum. The lefthander didn't allow a hit between the fourth and eighth inning during his 106-pitch, eight strikeout evening.
Academy of Art was able to load the bases in the ninth inning with one-out, but Billy Sanford work out of the game with just allowing a sacrifice fly in picking up his fifth save.
Gomez had a team best three hits. He went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Tovalin had two base knocks with two RBI and a run scored.
