AZUSA, Calif. -- Cole Kleszcz hit his 23rd home run of the year to flip a one-run deficit in Azusa Pacific's 2019 playoff opener, and Casey Dykstra put the top-seeded host Cougars in front for good with a seventh-inning solo shot in a 4-3 win over Cal State Monterey Bay.

Kleszcz hit his two-run shot to left on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, delivering the lead back to Azusa Pacific after the No. 4-seeded Otters scored in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. Two innings later, Dykstra broke the 3-3 tie with his fourth home run of the season, a two-out opposite-field shot to left in the bottom of the seventh.

Tripp Aversa fired four shutout innings of relief to pick up the win, which eliminated Cal State Monterey Bay from the double-elimination 2019 NCAA Division II West #1 Regional. Dykstra and Kleszcz both finished 2-for-3 to lead the Cougar offense.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improved to 37-13 on the season and advanced to a best-of-three series against No. 5-seeded Cal Poly Pomona for a spot in next week's West Super Regional. Cal State Monterey Bay concludes the season at 35-23.

What It Means: Azusa Pacific and Cal Poly Pomona are the only teams left in the West #1 Regional, with UC San Diego hosting Point Loma and Montana State-Billings in the West #2 Regional. The West #1 and West #2 tournament winners will meet in the West Super Regional best-of-three series next week (May 24-25).

What's Next: The Cougars have a turnaround of less than an hour before they take on Cal Poly Pomona in Game 3 of the NCAA Division II West #1 Regional.

How It Happened: Kleszcz drew a four-pitch leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, and he scored on Griffen Herrera's one-out single up the middle for an early 1-0 lead. Cal State Monterey Bay tied the game in the third inning when TJ Dove hit a two-out double and scored on Brian Morley's RBI single. Kokko Figueirido led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to left, giving the Otters a 2-1 lead before Kleszcz turned the lead around in the bottom of the fifth.

Cal State Monterey Bay got a pair of runners on with no outs in the sixth to chase starting pitcher A.J. Woodall from the game, but Aversa got out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth to keep the game tied, 3-3. He struck out TJ Dove for the final out of the sixth, the first of 10 consecutive batters retired by Aversa to close out the game.

Inside The Box Score: Cole Kleszcz set a new PacWest single-season home run record and now ranks second in Division II in home runs with 23 on the season, just two home runs behind the Division II leader, Matt Malkin of MSU Denver… Senior catcher Justin Gomez extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a one-out double in the fourth inning… Azusa Pacific's 37-win total on the season moves this year's squad into the program's all-time top-10 in wins for a season (37)…The win also represented the Cougars' 150th overall win over the past four seasons.