AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific needed a late rally to get past Concordia Saturday, and the Cougars scratched together three runs in the eighth inning to overcome a two-run deficit to clinch the four-game series sweep with a 5-4 win.
With the win, NCAA Division II's top-ranked Azusa Pacific extended its program-record season-opening win streak to 14 games, surpassing the previous record of 10 (set in 2007) with the four-game series sweep.
Concordia starter Neil Lang took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Mychael Goudreau broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left field, and the Cougars put their first runs on the board in the sixth inning to pull within 3-2. After Davis Tominaga hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth, Goudreau's leadoff single set the stage for another productive inning as the Cougars scored two runs on bases-loaded wild pitches to tie the game before a two-out Eagle error brought home the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth.
Layne Henderson provided six strong innings in his first collegiate start, and freshman Declan Kearney struck out six in three innings of relief to collect the victory.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific moves on to the second four-game series of the 40-game PacWest schedule, visiting 2017 Division II West Region runner-up Dixie State for four games starting Thursday, March 1. The teams square off Thursday at 6:00 pm (MST) to open the series, which continues with a Friday doubleheader starting at 4:00 pm and wraps with a single game on Saturday, March 3, at high noon.
How It Happened: After Lang issued back-to-back one-out walks to Justin Gomez and Sean Aspinall in the bottom of the first inning, he retired 14 straight hitters until Aaron Roose drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Goudreau knocked a 2-2 pitch cleanly into left field for the Cougars' first hit of the game, and Aspinall delivered a one-out single to load the bases. Osvaldo Tovalin hit a sharp grounder to first base, scoring a run from third base, and the first baseman's throw to second for the potential inning-ending double play sailed wide into left field, allowing Goudreau to score from second and pull the Cougars within a run, 3-2.
"It took us a little bit of time to get going, but I went up there with the same approach of trying to just get a hit or get on base for my team," Goudreau said. "I want to get on base as much as I can for this lineup, because I know who's batting behind me is capable of driving me in. I'm more focused on seeing as many pitches as I can and letting the other hitters know what I'm seeing up there."
Tominaga's home run extended the lead to 4-2, but Azusa Pacific answered in the bottom of the frame with Goudreau setting the stage from the leadoff spot with another base hit into left. Gomez drew a four-pitch walk, and Tovalin drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Tim Lichty. A wild pitch with Lichty batting brought Goudreau across the plate to cut the lead to 4-3, and Lichty loaded the bases again after drawing the Cougars' sixth walk of the game. Another wild pitch, this time with two outs, allowed Gomez to score the tying run, and a throwing error on Grant Gamble's two-out grounder to shortstop allowed Tovalin to score the go-ahead run.
Dillon Millar kept Concordia alive with a two-out single and a stolen base in the top of the ninth inning, but Kearney notched his sixth strikeout of the game as Alex Dimascio went down swinging to end the game.
Inside The Box Score: Azusa Pacific scored 28 runs in the series on 27 hits, although the Cougars reached another 23 times due to walks (17) or hit batters (6).
In Saturday's series finale, Azusa Pacific scored its five runs on only four hits; Aspinall and Gamble had the only other hits besides Goudreau's late-inning singles.
The teams committed a combined total of six errors in the first three games of the series before combining for five errors Saturday.
Henderson's start was the first start in 25 appearances over three seasons at Azusa Pacific, and it was his first start since making 8 starts as a 2015 freshman at William Jessup University.
Quotable
""Baseball's a funny game, because we didn't do a lot right in that game, but we ended up winning. We still have a lot to work on, and there are a lot of little things we need to improve on if we want to be an exceptional team. Concordia is a really good team, and they're going to do really good things this year, and we were fortunate to get out of this game with the win." -- Head Coach Paul Svagdis
"The pieces are coming together for us. The pitching is there, the offense is there, and even though we had three errors today, I think our defense is there. Our pitching kept us in this game, and sometimes all it takes for us to get back into the game is one inning. That's just how we are, we just kept scrapping away and ended up with the win. The energy in the dugout from everyone was there all day. Our team knows that all it takes is one hit or one ground ball to be a game-changer." – Justin Gomez
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