OAKLAND, Calif. – In Friday's doubleheader sweep, the Cougars showed they can win from the mound or at the plate.
Azusa Pacific won the first two games of their PacWest series against Holy Names to up their record to 17-4 overall and 4-2 in league games. On Saturday the teams end their four-game set with another twin bill beginning at 11 a.m.
Game One – Azusa Pacific 7, Holy Names 0
A steady performance at the plate and on the mound paced the Cougars. It was the fourth shutout of the season as the squad scored at least seven runs in a game for the 15th time this season.
Michael Fairchild threw a complete game, shut-out where he struck out nine. He allowed just four hits and allowed only one batter to reach base via a walk during his 107-pitch outing. For the righthander it was his third career complete game shutout but his first during a nine-inning game.
At the plate the Cougars offense scored in five of the innings as they won their sixth straight against the Hawks. The first runs came in the third inning as a two-out double from Michael Staudinger drove home Pablo O'Connor and Adrian Tovalin. Azusa Pacific made the scored read 4-0 in the next frame on RBI singles from Mychael Goudreau and O'Connor.
Cam Bennett crossed the plate in the sixth inning after an error by the third baseman. Another insurance run was added in the seventh when Nick Estrella's base knock allowed Michael Franco to score.
As the Cougars were building their insurmountable lead, Fairchild allowed just one base runner reach second base. Estrella added his second RBI in the contest with a double in the ninth inning which allowed Franco to score. On the mound, Fairchild struck out two of the final three batters to conclude his gem. Â
Game Two – Azusa Pacific 9, Holy Names 6
Another strong offensive showing gave the Cougars their fourth doubleheader sweep of the season.
After finding themselves in a 3-1 hole after the second inning, the Cougars strong offense showed their unrelenting ways. With two outs and the bases loaded, in the third stanza, Sean Aspinall laced a double to leftfield to clear the base paths and give his team a 4-3 lead. Nick Estrella's infield single three pitches later allowed Aspinall to score after an error by the Hawks second baseman.
The Cougars added to their 5-3 edge in the fourth frame. Another fielding error by the Holy Names infield allowed Pablo O'Connor, who doubled earlier in the inning, to give Azusa Pacific a three-run cushion. Holy Names trimmed their deficit in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Chris Gnos.
After an Azusa Pacific looked to stake claim to an unsurmountable lead with a pair of runs on a Justin Gomez sacrifice fly and Michael Staudinger big fly, Holy Names stayed with reach with two run scoring singles. With two innings left to play the Cougar held an 8-6 edge.
The final run of the game came when Estrella scurried home on a wild pitch in the eighth inning. Holy Names was able to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth but Kyle Murray induced a sacrifice fly to end the game.
