AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific smashed a season-high seven home runs with multiple home runs from three different players as it opened its four-game series against California Baptist with a 17-4 victory Thursday evening.
Senior leftfielder Pablo O'Connor led the offensive outburst with three home runs and six RBIs, while Austin Russ hit a three-run shot and a grand slam to finish 2-for-5 with seven RBIs. Sean Aspinall added a pair of home runs in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate as the Cougars scored 15 of their 17 runs via the long ball.
Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 12-1 lead after three innings, with Russ delivering the Cougars' first three runs with a first-inning shot to left. O'Connor hit a three-run homer to right-center in the second inning, and Russ hit a two-out grand slam down the right field line in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 12-1.
Isaiah Carranza improved to 9-0 on the season after striking out 11 in seven innings, scattering four runs on nine hits with a pair of walks.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 34-3 overall and 24-3 in the PacWest, while California Baptist drops to 25-14 overall, 18-11 PacWest.
How It Happened: Russ answered CBU's first-inning run with a three-run shot in the bottom of the first inning, and Aspinall scored on a wild pitch later in the frame after drawing a walk. O'Connor's second-inning three-run home run pushed the lead to 7-1, and the Russ grand slam with two outs in the third extended the gap to 12-1.
O'Connor and Aspinall hit solo home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, answering John Glenn's two-run double in the top of the fifth to maintain an 11-run edge, 14-3. Two innings later, the same two players went deep again, as O'Connor hammered the first pitch he saw for a two-run blast to straightaway center before Aspinall lifted a fly ball over the right-field fence for another solo homer that rounded out the game's scoring.
Carranza finished with 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work, striking out two batters in four of his last five innings before Spiro Valasakos took over and tossed two shutout innings to finish the game. Valasakos struck out three in his two-inning relief appearance.
Inside The Box Score: Aspinall went 3-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games… The Cougars' third, fourth, and fifth hitters (O'Connor, Russ, and Aspinall) combined for 15 RBIs on 8-for-13 batting in Thursday's series opener… Carranza's 11-strikeout performance was his fourth consecutive home start with double-digit strikeouts.
What's Next: The four-game series with California Baptist with a single game at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 20.
