AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific used steady offensive production and pitching to take the first game of a four-game Pacific West Conference series with Hawai'i Pacific, as the Cougars claimed an 8-victory Thursday evening.

Sophomore third baseman Osvaldo Tovalin had a huge game for the Cougars, as he went a perfect 5-for-5 from the plate, including a two-run home run. Tovalin finished the game with five RBIs and scored a pair of runs, leading Azusa Pacific to its best game of run production since a 9-1 win over Concordia on March 1.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 13-9 overall and 3-2 in the PacWest, while HPU drops to 16-11 overall, 3-8 PacWest.

Sophomore lefthander A.J. Woodall improved to 4-2 on the season with 6.2 strong innings, allowing just one earned run on 11 hits while striking out six. In the seventh inning, Woodall loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive HPU singles, but he got Sean Coffey to fly out to shallow left field for the first out struck out the Sharks' No. 3 hitter Jake Selco for the second out. Spiro Valasakos came into the game to face cleabup hitter Christian Kapeliela, who was 2-for-3 at that point, and Valasakos got the inning-ending fly out to keep Hawai'i Pacific off the scoreboard and preserve the Cougars' 7-1 lead at that point.

In the top of the eighth, Valasakos recorded three outs on three pitches, getting groundouts on first-pitch swings from all three batters, and he was almost as efficient in the ninth, closing out the game with a nine-pitch frame. In all, Valasakos needed just 15 pitches to record seven outs, surrendering just one hit, a two-out double in the ninth in the scoreless relief appearance.

How It Happened: Azusa Pacific took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning, as Tovalin doubled down the left field line to bring home Cole Kleszcz, who led off the game with a seven-pitch walk and stole second to get into scoring position. The Cougars added another run in the second, as Tovalin recorded his second RBI of the game on a two-out single to center field.

Azusa Pacific extended its lead with two runs in the top of the fourth, as Tovalin once again delivered for the Cougars with a two-run home run down the right field line on the first pitch of his at-bat to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead.

Hawai'i Pacific got on the board in the top of the fifth after loading the bases with one out. Sean Coffey hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score the Sharks' only run, and Woodall ended the game with a pickoff, his second of the game.

The Cougars regained the momentum in bottom of the sixth, plating three runs to grab a 7-1 lead. Joseph Kim led off the frame with a double down the left field line, and Justin Gomez brought pinch-runner Bryant Hyun around to score with an RBI single through the right side. Osvaldo Tovalin's two-out single scored Gomez, and Joe Quire Jr. followed with another single which scored Tovalin.

Senior first baseman Austin Russ provided the final run with a seventh-inning solo home run to lead off the inning, depositing a 1-0 pitch over the right field fence for his second home run of the season.

Inside The Box Score: Tovalin's 5-for-5 game was his 11th multi-hit game this year… Gomez also had multiple hits, going 3-for-4 with two runs… Both teams finished with 12 hits in the game… Of the Cougars' 12 hits in the game, five went for extra bases, with three doubles and two home runs… The first 11 hits for Hawai'i Pacific were singles, with Travis Tokunaga recording the Sharks' lone extra-base hit with his two-out double in the ninth inning.

What's Next: The four-game series continues Friday, as the Cougars host Hawai'i Pacific on Friday, March 15 at 3 p.m., and the series concludes with a Saturday, March 16, doubleheader at noon.