FRESNO, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific became the nation's first NCAA baseball program regardless of division to reach 20 wins on the season with a doubleheader sweep at Fresno Pacific Friday, using standout pitching from Layne Henderson to post a 2-0 win in the opener before the offense exploded for 13 runs in the final two innings of a 17-7 win to close out the four-game Pacific West Conference series.

With the sweep, Azusa Pacific improves to 20-2 overall and 10-2 in PacWest play after winning its second consecutive conference road series. The Cougars, who have been on the road for 15 of their first 22 games, are home for the next eight, hosting four-game PacWest series against Academy of Art (March 15-17) and Holy Names (March 23-24) in the next two weeks.

How It Happened (Game 1): Henderson tossed eight shutout innings and struck out 13 Sunbirds to pick up the win in his third start since moving into the rotation from the bullpen. After allowing a one-out single in the first inning, Henderson proceeded to retire 15 straight batters. He struck out at least one batter in every inning, recording two strikeouts in three different frames before finishing with three strikeouts around a one-out single in the eighth inning.

John Szczesny finished what Henderson started, firing a scoreless ninth to pick up his second save of the year. The Cougars scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to provide all the scoring in the game. After Tim Lichty flied out to the wall in in center field to lead off the fifth, Nick Estrella hit a one-out double to left-center and scored on Grant Gamble's single back up the middle. That run broke the scoreless tie, and Azusa Pacific picked up an insurance run on a two-out error in the sixth that made it a 2-0 game.

How It Happened (Game 2): Azusa Pacific built an early lead, using another strong outing from its starting pitcher as Estrella held Fresno Pacific to two runs on six hits in six innings. He left the game with a 3-2 lead, and Gamble led off the seventh with a home run which gave the Cougars a 4-2 lead. The Sunbirds rallied to take a 5-4 lead with a three-run seventh, putting FPU just six outs away from picking up a split of Friday's doubleheader.

That's when the Cougar offense exploded, answering with three consecutive hits to start the frame. Sean Aspinall led off with a single, and he scored on Osvaldo Tovalin's triple to right to tie the game at 5-5. The next batter was Lichty, and he doubled down the left-field line to score Tovalin and put Azusa Pacific back in front, 6-5. After a pair of walks to load the bases, Justin Gomez hit the second pitch he saw from FPU reliever Kobie Anton for a one-out grand slam, his second of the series, to highlight a seven-run eighth inning.

Azusa Pacific didn't stop with an 11-5 lead, though. After sending 11 batters to the plate in the eight, the Cougars batted around again in a six-run ninth. Tovalin finished off the frame with a two-run double to finish off a 2-for-5 performance. Pablo O'Connor went 2-for-6 with a solo home run, and Lichty was 2-for-4 to help lead the 14-hit attack.

Inside The Box Score: As a pitching staff, Azusa Pacific registered 22 strikeouts and issued five walks.

O'Connor was the only Cougar hitter to record hits in all four games of the series. He went 6-for-17 with a pair of solo home runs in the four-game set.

Leadoff hitter Mychael Goudreau drew a team-high five walks in the series and had a series on-base percentage of .450.

Fresno Pacific batted .285 in the series compared to the Cougars' .282 team average in the four-game series. However, 16 of Azusa Pacific's 40 hits were extra-base hits including seven home runs, while only 8 of the Sunbirds' 37 hits went for extra bases (no home runs).

The 2-0 win in Friday's opener was the second shutout of the season for Azusa Pacific, and it was its first in a nine-inning game and the first in PacWest play. The Cougars' last shutout in both nine innings and PacWest play was a 2-0 victory over Dixie State in the opener of a doubleheader sweep which clinched Azusa Pacific's first PacWest baseball title.

Ten different players have hit a home run for Azusa Pacific in 2018, including seven with at least four. The Cougars lead Division II in home runs with 38, and nine players have at least 10 RBIs on the season.

What's Next: Azusa Pacific hosts Academy of Art in a four-game series which starts with a single game at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 15.