AZUSA, Calif. -- It didn't come without a fight, but Azusa Pacific edged Western Oregon 7-6 to wrap up a three-game series sweep in a premier NCAA Division II non-conference matchup between defending conference champions from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Pacific West Conference.
The Cougars rallied from a run down to take the lead twice in the first five innings before Sean Aspinall hit his fourth home run of the year, a seventh-inning solo shot to left field, to break a 6-6 tie and push Azusa Pacific in front for good.
Nick Estrella struck out 5 in a 4-inning relief appearance to pick up the win, and Layne Henderson tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
Azusa Pacific improves to 8-0 on the season while posting a three-game series sweep from the GNAC preseason favorite and a four-game sweep at San Francisco State last week. The Cougars also rallied to beat Biola in a non-conference matchup earlier in the week.
Aspinall provided the game-winning score, but Austin Russ broke out with a pair of extra-base hits including a fifth-inning two-run home run which gave the Cougars a 6-5 lead.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific visits Cal State San Bernardino for single games on Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17, wrapping up a 10-game non-conference slate ahead of the daunting 40-game PacWest Conference schedule.
How It Happened: Western Oregon scratched across a run in the top of the first to take the early lead, getting Jacob Martinez across the plate from third before Connor McCord was tagged out in a rundown between first and second. The lead was short-lived, as Pablo O'Connor doubled down the right field line with two runners aboard in the bottom of the first inning to drive in the first run of a three-run frame. Russ hit an RBI double to right field in the bottom of the third, scoring Osvaldo Tovalin from second to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead.
Nyles Nygaard's 2-run home run in the top of the fourth was followed by a Jared McDonald solo shot which gave the Wolves a 5-4 lead. However, Russ knocked a full-count offering from WOU reliever David Wallum over the right field fence for a two-out, two-run home run to right that swung the lead back to the Cougars, 6-5.
Western Oregon was able to tie the game in the next half-inning, when Drey McInnes hit an RBI single up the middle with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. With the bases empty and one out in the top of the seventh, Aspinall knocked a 2-0 pitch from Jacob Fricke over the left-field fence for the game-winning score.
Estrella kept the Wolves scoreless for one more inning before Henderson took over in the ninth. Henderson struck out the leadoff hitter before issuing a one-out walk, but the Cougars' run-game defense ended the threat there. Martinez was called out for interference when he obstructed Justin Gomez's throw to second on a steal attempt, and Gomez gunned down Justin Spinner on a two-out steal attempt to end the game.
Inside The Box Score: Tovalin notched his sixth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 performance, raising his team-high batting average to.412 (14-for-34) through the season's first 8 games… Aspinall ranks second on the team in batting average (.406) behind Tovalin, and he holds the team lead in home runs (4) and RBIs (11)… Cougar pitchers combined for 9 strikeouts and 3 walks in 9 innings of work.
