FRESNO, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific hit four home runs in an 11-8 win over Fresno Pacific in the opening game of Thursday's doubleheader, but the Cougars dropped the second game in extra innings, 3-2, to split the opening day of a two-day series with the Sunbirds.

Justin Gomez provided the most damage with one swing, tying the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning after Fresno Pacific jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Nick Estrella added a two-run shot in the sixth, which tied the game at 6-6, and Pablo O'Connor and Sean Aspinall added solo home runs in the late innings as the Cougar offense surged to another four runs in the final two frames.

In the nightcap, which was scheduled for seven innings, Azusa Pacific took the early lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. Fresno Pacific scored single runs in the third and fifth innings, sending the game to extra innings, and the Sunbirds won the game in walk-off fashion when a balk was called with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.

With the split, Azusa Pacific is now 18-2 overall and 8-2 in Pacific West Conference play, while Fresno Pacific is now 7-5 overall and 4-2 in the PacWest.

What's Next: The four-game series concludes Friday with another doubleheader consisting of two scheduled nine-inning games. The first pitch of the opener is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

How It Happened (Game 1): After spotting FPU a 4-0 lead after four innings in Game 1, Gomez erased the lead with a single left-handed swing, tying the game at 4-4 with a grand slam home run to right-center. After Fresno Pacific regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, Estrella answered with a two-run shot to tie the game at 6-6, and the Cougars edged in front when Grant Gamble scored on a wild pitch later in the inning.

O'Connor hit a solo home run in the eighth, breaking a 7-7 tie, and Aspinall added another solo shot in the ninth as the Cougars extended the lead to 11-7 and eventually settled for the 11-8 win.

The Sunbirds scored six runs (five earned) on 10 hits off Azusa Pacific righthander Isaiah Carranza, who struck out five and walked three in five innings. Tripp Aversa picked up the win with a two-inning relief appearance, and Declan Kearney picked up a two-inning save.

How It Happened (Game 2): Osvaldo Tovalin's leadoff single in the second inning set the table for Azusa Pacific to take the early lead. Estrella hit a one-out triple to right-center to score Tovalin, and Estrella later scored on an error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt. Although Fresno Pacific starter Josue Mendivil issued six walks and allowed four hits in four innings, he kept the Cougars off the scoreboard outside of the two-run second before handing the ball off to Kobie Anton for four shutout frames. Anton surrendered just two hits and struck out four over the final four innings of the game.

Fresno Pacific scored each of its first two runs with two outs, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the third on Braden Frankfort's RBI double and tying the game in the fifth on a two-out wild pitch. Frankfort led off the eighth with a single up the middle, and pinch-runner Bryan Honley swiped second base on a swinging strike three in the dirt for the first out of the eighth. With the winning run in scoring position, the Cougars intentionally walked Ross Dodds, and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out before Nate Case drew a walk to load the bases. John Szczesny was called for a balk while pitching to Jarrett Anton, ending the game on the walk-off balk.

Dillon Miyashiro tossed six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. Szczesny was charged with the loss in 1.1 innings of relief, falling to 1-1 on the year.

Inside The Box Score: Both of Azusa Pacific's extra-inning games this season have been the seven-inning game scheduled as the second game of a doubleheader. The Cougars are now 1-1 in extra-inning games this season.

Both teams finished the day with exactly 19 hits, and both teams committed two errors on the day.

After going 3-for-3 in the opener, Austin Russ was 12-for-16 (.750) in PacWest play. Despite going 0-for-3 in the nightcap, Russ still owns a PacWest-only batting average of .632 (12-for-19), and he is also the team's overall batting leader with a .425 (17-for-40) season average.

Seven different players have at least 11 RBIs this season, led by Aspinall (22) and Tovalin (19).

Aspinall is also the team's home run leader with seven, but six others have at least three home runs on the year.