AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific opened its fifth Pacific West Conference series with a 5-0, 7-3 doubleheader sweep over Holy Names, as the Cougars extended their win streak to eight games while improving to 26-2 overall with Friday's sweep.

The formula was familiar, starting with a complete-game shutout from junior righthander Isaiah Carranza, who fired his second consecutive shutout while striking out 12 to improve to 7-0, and senior righthander Layne Henderson picked up his fourth consecutive win with six strikeouts in seven innings of the nightcap win.

Azusa Pacific entered the weekend series as the Division II national leader in home runs, and the Cougars added two to bring its total to 48 on the season after Pablo O'Connor and Sean Aspinall each hit their team-high eighth home run of the season in the 7-3 win in Game 2.

With the sweep, Azusa Pacific improved to 26-2 overall and 16-2 in Pacific West Conference play, while Holy Names dropped to 6-17 overall and 2-12 in PacWest play.

How It Happened (Game 1): Carranza scattered six hits over his complete-game victory, and his performance got sharper as the game went deeper as he retired 17 of the final 20 Holy Names batters. He struck out the side in the seventh inning, and he finished off the game with a perfect ninth inning to close out the win.

After three scoreless innings, the Cougars pushed the first run across in the bottom of the fourth on Aspinall's one-out triple to straightaway center field. The rest of the damage all came with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, starting with a Justin Gomez RBI triple to center which scored Mychael Goudreau. O'Connor was intentionally walked, and Aspinall made the Hawks pay for the extra baserunner after he delivered a two-run single up the middle to extend the lead to 4-0. Osvaldo Tovalin's infield single scored one more for the final 5-0 margin.

How It Happened (Game 2): Aspinall scored one of three unearned first-inning runs that gave Azusa Pacific an early three-run cushion, and O'Connor hit a solo home run in the third inning to make it a 4-0 lead. After Holy Names cut the lead in half to 4-2 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Aspinall turned another intentional walk of O'Connor into a 7-2 lead with a three-run home run to left field.

Henderson scattered three runs on six hits with six strikeouts in seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. After Holy Names loaded the bases on a leadoff error and back-to-back walks, Declan Kearney entered the game and promptly recorded consecutive strikeouts before ending the threat with an inning-ending fly out to preserve the 7-3 lead. Kearney earned the save with another scoreless frame in the ninth, finishing with three strikeouts in two shutout frames.

Inside The Box Score: The Game 1 pitching matchup featured the PacWest strikeout leaders, as Carranza and HNU starter Aiden McIntyre entered the game tied for the lead with 53 strikeouts each. Carranza seized sole possession of the lead by recording 12 strikeouts to McIntyre's six.

Azusa Pacific's 26-2 start is the best in program history.

Carranza is tied for the Division II lead in pitching victories (7), and he ranks among the national top-20 in strikeouts (65).

O'Connor was 3-for-6 on the day with a pair of walks (both intentional), and he owns a team season-high 11-game hitting streak.

Aspinall finished with six RBIs on the day to reclaim the team RBI lead from Tovalin. Aspinall now has 30 RBIs, while Tovalin has 28, and all nine of the Cougars' regular offensive starters have at least 15 RBIs each.

What's Next: Azusa Pacific faces Holy Names in another doubleheader on Saturday, March 24, at 11:00 a.m.