AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific jumped out to a four-run lead in the first inning of its Pacific West Conference opener, and that turned out to be more than enough cushion for junior righthander Isaiah Carranza in an 8-1 win over Concordia Thursday afternoon.
Carranza struck out 14 in eight innings of work in a dominant performance, leading NCAA Division II's No. 1-ranked Cougars to their 11th consecutive win which is the longest season-opening win streak in program history.
The first four Azusa Pacific batters all reached base safely, and freshman third baseman Osvaldo Tovalin highlighted the four-run first inning with a three-run home run off Concordia starter Carpenter Pagett, who didn't allow another hit in the six innings he threw.
The victory in the PacWest opener surpasses the program's previous longest season-opening streak of 10 wins, which came from a 2007 squad which ended up producing two Major League Baseball players (Stephen Vogt & Kirk Nieuwenhuis).
What's Next: Azusa Pacific continues its four-game PacWest series with Concordia on Friday, hosting the Eagles in a 3 p.m. doubleheader before concluding the series on Saturday with a single game starting at 1 p.m.
How It Happened: Carranza registered seven strikeouts in the first five innings before he struck out the side in the sixth to give him 10 strikeouts. He added two more strikeouts in the seventh and two in the eighth to give him 14 strikeouts. All 14 went down swinging, and Carranza's only blemish was an unearned run in the seventh inning when the leadoff batter reached on a three-base error on a dropped fly ball and later scored on a sacrifice fly.
After surrendering the four early runs, Pagett quickly settled down and didn't allow another hit through six complete innings. However, the Cougars put together four eighth-inning insurance runs off Concordia reliever Alex Zalasky to provide the final 8-1 margin. Justin Gomez and Tovalin each hit run-scoring doubles in the eighth inning to help spark Azusa Pacific's offense.
Tripp Aversa struck out two of the three batters he faced in a scoreless ninth inning, giving Cougar pitchers a combined total of 16 strikeouts on the day.
Inside The Box Score: Carranza lasted five innings twice and six innings once in his first three starts before spinning Thursday's 8-inning gem.
Carranza is now 4-0 in his four starts, posting a 2.62 ERA and a 33 strikeouts in 24 innings of work.
Mychael Goudreau and Justin Gomez have reached base safely in all 11 games this season.
Thursday's game was the second time this season Azusa Pacific pitchers have not surrendered a walk.
Quotable
"It's hard to compare different seasons because the teams are so different. That 2007 team was so special, it's going to be hard for most teams to eclipse that kind of special year with the phenomenal leadership and a couple of Major League players in the lineup. There's no comparison at this point, but to break a record that the 2007 team set is something the players should be proud of, because that was such a great team. This team understands how competitive this league is and how tough each opponent is. The focus right now is just on our process, on playing a certain way and with the ideals we try to play with." -- Head Coach Paul Svagdis
"We pitched really well today, and we really needed that. Carranza has a few starts under his belt, so he's starting to get into a groove and we were able to extend him out to around 100 pitches. I was proud of the way he competed for us today and got big outs when we needed them. Any time your starter in Game 1 of a series goes 8 innings, it makes you feel that much better lining up the next two days with three games to go in the series." – Svagdis
"It feels really good to get back to where I know I can be. I felt comfortable tonight with the curveball and slider combination tonight, and even though I can locate it better, I still had the confidence to throw my fastball in any count." – Isaiah Carranza
