AZUSA, Calif. -- Ten days ago, a conference title was the prize for Azusa Pacific's regular-season finale against Point Loma, but the stakes were even higher when the teams met again Saturday afternoon in Game 8 of the NCAA Division II West Region Playoffs.

Even the starting pitchers from the May 9 regular-season finale were back on the mound for their teams, and the No. 2-seeded Cougars used a six-run third inning to take the early lead and hang on late for a 10-7 win that ended the season for No. 4-seeded PLNU.

Point Loma sent seven different pitchers to the mound to try to slow the Cougars' offense, which plated 10 runs on 12 hits and drew 8 walks and a hit by pitch on the day. Griffen Herrera hit a three-run home run in the third, and Aaron Roose added a two-run shot later in the inning for his first collegiate home run to give Azusa Pacific a 7-1 lead.

Point Loma scored four times in the fifth and twice in the sixth, with Osvaldo Tovalin providing a slim one-run edge with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth.

Senior righthander Dillon Miyashiro gave the Cougars a gutsy 6.2-inning performance, surrendering seven runs (five earned) on six hits with five strikeouts, and Brendan Dixon took over for the final 2.1 innings without giving up a hit to pick up the save. Sean Aspinall robbed Tyler Flores of a run-producing extra-base hit for the second out of the ninth inning to preserve the final three-run margin.

What It Means: Azusa Pacific moves into Monday's championship bracket, needing to win two consecutive games starting with a Game 10 matchup with No. 3-seeded UC San Diego at noon. The Cougars also improved to 41-10 overall as Azusa Pacific has posted consecutive 40-win seasons for the second time in program history.

How It Happened: A day after tying the school single-game hits record, Mychael Goudreau led off the bottom of the first inning with a base hit into left-center, scoring the game's first run on Pablo O'Connor's single through the left side. Point Loma tied the game with a single run in the third before the Cougars exploded for six in the bottom of the third.

Tovalin drove in the go-ahead run with a one-out single through the right side, and Herrera launched the first pitch of the next at-bat for a three-run home run to left-center. That gave the Cougars a four-run edge, 5-1, and two batters later, Roose hit a two-run shot to left to make it a 7-1 margin with the fourth consecutive hit off PLNU starter Stephen Young.

Point Loma pulled within two, 7-5, with four runs in the fifth, but Miyashiro got Tyler Flores to fly out to left with a runner in scoring position, and Tovalin provided an insurance run with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth that made it 8-5. The Sea Lions scored twice in the sixth to trim the lead to 8-7, and Miyashiro issued back-to-back two-out walks in the seventh when Dixon came in to retire Travis Takata and preserve the one-run lead.

The Cougars scored two runs in the seventh without recording a hit, as Aspinall and O'Connor drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to extend the lead to 10-7. Dixon recorded a pair of strikeouts in the eighth, and Aspinall made a game-saving catch against the right-field fence for the second out of the ninth inning, robbing Flores of an extra-base hit before Dixon got a game-ending groundout to secure the win.

What's Next: Championship Monday is all that remains in the 2018 NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament, with No. 2-seeded host Azusa Pacific taking on No. 3-seeded UC San Diego at noon on Monday, May 21. The Cougars need a victory to force the if-necessary Game 11, which would take place 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. UC San Diego needs just one win on Monday to repeat as West Region champion.

Beyond The Box Score: Azusa Pacific has scored in the first inning four times in the past five games, starting with the final two games of the series against Point Loma to close out the regular season… Goudreau extended his streak of reaching base safely to 30 games… Roose's first collegiate home run made him the 13th different Cougar to hit a home run this season, and Dixon recorded his first collegiate save… With three home runs, Azusa Pacific increased its season total to 87, which is tied for the fourth-highest season home run total in program history.

Postgame Press Conference

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