WAIPAHU, Hawai'i -- Rain or shine, through lightning or clear skies, Azusa Pacific baseball does one thing and does it very well.
Quite simply, Division II's No. 1-ranked Cougars just compete, and Friday's series-opening win at Hawai'i Pacific provided nearly every possible challenge before Azusa Pacific hung on to win the battle for a 9-8 win over the host Sharks. Hawai'i Pacific put four early runs on the board, got the Cougars' senior starting pitcher Dillon Miyashiro out of the game in the fifth inning, and both teams waited out a 52-minute lightning delay after the sixth inning.
The difference in the game was Azusa Pacific's six-run fifth inning, which turned the game around by flipping a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead. It happened as a light mist turned into a steady rain, and the Cougars led the rest of the way, thanks to five strong innings from the bullpen. Brendan Dixon surrendered a pair of unearned runs on one hit and one walk in two innings before he was sidelined due to the long lightning delay, and Nick Estrella closed out the game with eight strikeouts in three innings of work.
Pablo O'Connor led the Cougars with a 2-for-4 performance, and Grant Gamble was 1-for-3 with 3 RBIs in the victory.
With the victory, Azusa Pacific improved to 30-3 overall and 20-3 in Pacific West Conference play, resuming a Hawai'i road trip which was already reduced from eight games to six due to Tuesday's rained-out doubleheader at Hawai'i Hilo. Hawai'i Pacific fell to a game below .500 at 16-17 overall, which included a 10-15 mark in PacWest play. Azusa Pacific is one of seven Division II programs to reach 30 wins so far this season, and it's the quickest in program history to reach 30 wins (33 games).
Fastest Cougar Teams To 30 Wins:
2018: 33 games (30-3)
2007: 34 games (30-4)
2017: 34 games (30-4)
2008: 35 games (30-5)
2001: 37 games (30-7)
1993: 38 games (30-7-1)
1995: 38 games (30-7-1)
2012: 38 games (30-8)
1998: 40 games (30-9-1)
How It Happened: Azusa Pacific left runners on base in each of the first three innings, while the Sharks built a 4-0 lead with two runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Wyatt Hoppie hit a two-run home run to open up the game's scoring, and in the second inning, Mitchell Bumann hit an RBI double and scored on a groundout to give HPU an early 4-0 lead.
The Cougars got two runs back in the fourth inning, as Gamble hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field before Joe Quire Jr. delivered a two-out single to left to bring in another run and cut the lead to 4-2. After HPU added a run to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Azusa Pacific sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run fifth inning.
Justin Gomez got the rally started with a leadoff single, and O'Connor followed with a double to right field. Gomez scored on a groundout, making it 5-3, and after Aspinall and Austin Russ drew consecutive walks, Gamble hit a game-tying 2-run double to right-center to tie the game at 5-5. A passed ball allowed Russ to score the go-ahead run, and a Hawai'i Pacific error scored two more to extend the lead to 8-5.
The Sharks scored two runs following a two-out error in the sixth, cutting the Cougars' lead to 8-7, and a lightning strike within a few miles of Hans L'Orange Park before the seventh inning began caused a 52-minute delay between the sixth and seventh innings. When the teams came back, relief pitchers for both teams (Jordan Gesling of HPU and Estrella for the Cougars) struck out the side in the seventh inning. After O'Connor was hit by pitch with one out in the top of the eighth, he eventually came around to score on an error to give Azusa Pacific an insurance run.
Estrella struck out two of the three HPU batters in the eighth inning, but Sharks leadoff hitter Tanner Tokunaga reached on a passed ball after a swinging strike three to lead off the inning. Estrella also struck out the next batter for the first out, but Hoppie hit a one-out single through the left side before consecutive two-out walks cut the Azusa Pacific lead to a single run, 9-8. With the bases loaded and the tying run just 90 feet from home, Estrella delivered a game-clinching strikeout to finish off the victory.
Inside The Box Score: O'Connor was Azusa Pacific's only player with more than one hit… Dixon picked up his first collegiate victory after recording a pair of strikeouts while surrendering two unearned runs a hit and a walk over two innings of work… Aspinall went 1-for-2 with 2 runs and 2 walks, and his single to lead off the fourth inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific continues its four-game series at Hawai'i Pacific with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. (HST), and the series concludes Monday night with another 6:00 p.m. contest.
