AZUSA, Calif. -- Senior righthander Layne Henderson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and settled for a complete-game one-hitter, leading NCAA Division II's top-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 10-2 win in the opening game of a doubleheader sweep against Academy of Art.
Henderson's 12-strikeout complete-game effort followed a complete-game three-hit shutout from Isaiah Carranza, and Dillon Miyashiro spun five shutout frames as the Cougars swept the doubleheader with another victory by an identical 10-2 margin for the doubleheader sweep.
With the sweep, Azusa Pacific has won five straight games to improve to 23-2 overall and 13-2 in Pacific West Conference play. Academy of Art, which entered this weekend's series with a conference-high six-game win streak, falls to 12-12 overall and 7-8 in PacWest play.
How It Happened (Game 1): Henderson retired the first 14 batters before issuing a two-out walk in the fifth, and he set down another seven in a row to take his no-hit bid into the eighth inning. After a leadoff walk, Angel Mora flied out to right to put Henderson just five outs away from the no-hitter. However, Academy of Art catcher Zak May worked the count full before breaking up the no-hit and shutout bids with a two-run home run to right-center. Henderson retired the final five hitters to finish off the complete-game one-hitter.
Mychael Goudreau and Justin Gomez set the table for the offense with three hits each out of the top two spots in the lineup. Goudreau led off the game with an infield single, and Gomez smashed the next pitch to right-center for a two-run home run and a quick jolt of offense to give Henderson an early lead. Austin Russ was also 3-for-5, and he led off the second with a solo shot that cleared the netting in right field and landed in the median of Historic Route 66 beyond right field.
The 3-0 lead held until the sixth inning, when Gomez hit another home run, this time a three-run shot to right field to cap a five-run frame. Russ added an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 10-0.
How It Happened (Game 2): Pablo O'Connor opened the scoring in the seven-inning nightcap with an opposite-field solo home run, and Russ and Sean Aspinall followed with consecutive two-out doubles to produce another two-run first inning. O'Connor added a leadoff home run to left-center in the third inning to spark a four-run inning that extended the lead to 6-0. The Cougars added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, including a Grant Gamble home run that made it 8-0.
Meanwhile, Miyashiro allowed baserunners in each of the first four innings but did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. Mora led off with a hard single up the middle, and Elijah Smith added a two-out single to right-center although he was cut down trying to extend it to a double to end the inning. After Academy of Art got on the board with two runs in the sixth inning, Osvaldo Tovalin answered with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to wrap up the scoring.
Aspinall and Gamble each went 3-for-3 to lead a 14-hit outburst, while Tovalin and O'Connor collected two hits each to help lead the offense.
Inside The Box Score: Azusa Pacific's pitching staff has limited Academy of Art to a three-game total of four runs on 10 hits while notching 26 strikeouts with 5 walks.
Five different players finished with four hits in the doubleheader, with Goudreau going 4-for-8 from the leadoff spot to raise his season batting average to .287.
Gomez, Aspinall, Russ, and Gamble also collected four hits each, as Russ continued his torrid pace in PacWest play with a 4-for-8 day which included a pair of doubles and his sixth home run of the season. Russ is batting .514 (19-for-37) with a 1.054 slugging percentage in 13 games against PacWest opponents.
Henderson is 4-0 in four starts after starting the season closing games in the Cougar bullpen. He now has a 2.14 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific hosts Holy Names in back-to-back doubleheaders next Friday and Saturday, March 23 and 24, which will take the Cougars to the halfway point of the 40-game PacWest schedule.
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