Azusa Pacific had a strong showing in day one of the Tournament of Champions, as the Cougars lost 6-5 to Western Washington, and then responded with a 7-6 win over tournament host Stanislaus State, followed by an 8-3 win over Northwest Nazarene.
Game One: Western Washington 6, Azusa Pacific 5
While the Cougars found themselves down 6-1 late in the first game of the day, Azusa Pacific would not go down quietly. In the top of the sixth inning, Azusa Pacific was able to fight back into the ball game, as the Cougars put up three runs off of four hits. The inning was started by sophomore
Amanda Woods, who led off with a single. Senior
Melanie Abzun followed with a double to right center, that put both Woods and Abzun into scoring position with no outs. The Cougars put the first run of the inning up on the board when junior
Emily Moran hit a sacrifice fly that brought Woods home and made the score 6-2, Western Washington. A batter later, junior
Jenna Gorman drove Abzun in for the second run of the inning with an RBI double to right field. With the score now 6-3, and Gorman on second with one out, junior Danielle Toschi came on as a pinch hitter. Toschi answered the call, as she doubled down the left field line to score Gorman and bring the Cougars within two runs, at 6-4.
Azusa Pacific would draw a run closer in the top of the seventh, when senior
Racqual Espinoza singled home junior
Brielle Fraijo. However, the Cougars were unable to push across the game-tying run in the final inning.
Abzun led the way for the Cougar offense, as she finished 3-for-3, with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Woods and Espinoza also finished with multiple hits in the game, as Woods went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Espinoza finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Game Two: Azusa Pacific 7, Stanislaus State 6
In a back-and-forth game for seven innings, Azusa Pacific was able to hold on and win the second of three games on Friday. Both offenses got going early, as Stanislaus State scored two runs in the top of the first, and the Cougars answered right back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Following scoreless innings for both teams in the second and third inning, Stanislaus State broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the fourth, when Sydnee Machado tripled home a run to make the score 3-2. Stanislaus State's lead was short lived, as Azusa Pacific put up three runs in the bottom of fourth to make it 5-3. The Cougars scored three runs off of three hits, highlighted by RBIs from freshman
Olivia Smith, freshman
Dani Burghardt, and Woods.
Entering the top of the seventh inning, Stanislaus State still faced a 5-3 deficit. With the game on the line, Stanislaus State was able to score three runs in the top of the seventh and grab a 6-5 lead, putting the pressure on Azusa Pacific to respond in the bottom half of the inning.
Respond is just what the Cougars did, as all five Cougars who came to the plate singled in the inning. However, the hero of the game was Moran, as she came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, as a Cougar baserunner was thrown out at home on the previous play. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Moran ripped a ball through the right side, for a game-winning two RBI single that brought home Toschi and Fraijo.
Three different Cougars had three hits in the game, as Woods and sophomore
Becca Jewett each went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and junior
Megan Tucker was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Junior
Kat Ung pitched her second consecutive complete game for the Cougars, as she went seven innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out three, while earning the win. Her record on the season is now 6-6.
Game Three: Azusa Pacific 8, Northwest Nazarene 3
The Cougars closed out day one of the Tournament of Champions with their second win of the day, as Azusa Pacific used early offense to get ahead early, and solid pitching to maintain the lead and earn the victory.
Azusa Pacific scored two runs in its first turn at the plate, using just one hit in the inning. Broussard opened the inning with a single, and she advanced to second on a groundout by Fraijo. Broussard then got to third base on a passed ball with Burghardt at the plate. Burghardt would eventually walk, which put runners at the corner with one out. Abzun came to bat for the Cougars, and she was able to bring Broussard home on a fielder's choice to notch the first run of the ball game. Later in the inning, Burghardt was able to steal home to give Azusa Pacific a 2-0 lead after the first.
Following a run scored in the top of the second for Northwest Nazarene, the Cougar offense got right back to work, scoring five runs on six hits. The highlight of the inning was a three-run homerun from Abzun, as it was her second homerun of the season. Abzun's homerun grew Azusa Pacific's lead to 7-1, as both Broussard and Burghardt had RBI singles prior to Abzun's long ball.
Azusa Pacific would add one more run in the bottom of the fourth, off of an RBI double from Moran.
Freshman
Jahzell Estrada picked up her first collegiate win of her career, as she threw five innings, striking out two hitters, while allowing seven hits and just two earned runs. Espinoza came on in relief in the game, as she threw two innings of shutout baseball, allowing one hit.
Broussard finished with three hits in the contest, while Abzun, Gorman and Burghardt had two hits, however, Abzun led the way with four RBIs in the game.
Up Next: The Cougars will play two more games tomorrow in the Tournament of Champions, as Azusa Pacific will open with Humboldt State at 9 a.m., and Central Washington at 11:30 a.m.. The Cougars are 15-13 overall, and 10-7 in conference play. For more information on the Tournament of Champions, please visit the following link:
https://warriorathletics.com/sports/2007/12/21/SBALL_1221072329.aspx
