HONOLULU- Hawai'i -- Azusa Pacific baseball leaned on its offense to secure its first road series victory of the season after sweeping Saturday's doubleheader. The Cougars thumped Hawai'i Pacific 16-3 and 13-3 in the two games and have now started conference play with a 3-1 record. The Cougars outscored their opponent 29-6 in the doubleheader and have now won five of their last six games. Over the six-game stretch, Azusa Pacific's offense is averaging 11 runs per game and have scored in double digits in all five victories. 

How it Happened (Game 1): 

The Cougars sent senior Nick Estrella to the hill in the first game of the doubleheader. Estrella got into and out of trouble in the first inning as the first two Sharks reached the corners but Estrella induced a ground ball double play that helped him escape with allowing just one run. 

Azusa Pacific then broke out for seven runs in an inning for the second time of the series, this time however, all the runs were scored with two outs. Junior catcher Aaron Roose opened up the scoring with a bases clearing double giving the Cougars the 3-1 advantage. The Cougars heart of the order then continued the two-out rally as junior infielder Osvaldo Tovalin singled in a run before senior Joseph Kim doubled in two more increasing the lead to 6-1. Senior outfielder Griffen Herrera would cap off the inning with an RBI single to put the Cougars up big, 7-1 early. 

Similar to game two of the series, the Cougars started fast and finished strong as they scored all of their runs in the first and last two innings. Two more runs in the eighth inning by way of an RBI double from sophomore infielder Tido Robles and an RBI single from junior infielder Travis Aversa extended the Cougars margin to six runs as they led 9-3 after eight innings of play.

Feeling a little déjà vu from the prior day, Azusa Pacific scored seven runs in the ninth inning for the second consecutive game to up their tally of seven-run innings in the series to three. The first three batters in the inning reached before Herrera padded his RBI total on the day singling in two runs to put the Cougars up 11-3. Robles, who already drove in one earlier in the game, one-upped Herrera by driving in three more with a bases clearing triple to right center field. With the Cougars up by 11, back-to-back run scoring doubles from Will Stroud and Daniel Genna would cap off the 16-3 victory in style.

Estrella received his second win of the season after tossing five innings, allowing just one earned run and recording a season high seven strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore David Wylie pitched two innings out of the pen, allowing just one run and tying a career-high in punchouts with four in the outing. Freshmen Korey Shepard and Shane Cronin each threw a scoreless inning to secure the win 16-3 in favor of the Cougars.

How it Happened (Game 2):

Azusa Pacific once again started strong out of the gate, batting around in the first half inning of the game while scoring eight runs in the process. Estrella singled in Roose for the game's opening run before Kim doubled in Tovalin from second to double the lead at 2-0 Cougars. After Herrera was drilled by a pitch to load the bases, Robles reached on an error that scored two more runs for Azusa Pacific. Robles then stole second and Herrera scored from third on the throw before Aversa singled in Robles from second base putting the Cougars ahead 6-0. The Cougars kept pouring it on from there, Tovalin's two-RBI single through the left side broke the game wide open and knocked Hawai'i Pacific's starting pitcher out of the game after throwing just two-thirds of an inning. 

They didn't stop at eight runs either, just two innings later the offense got right back to it. Aversa and Roose reached to start the inning before junior outfielder Casey Dykstra singled in the first run of the inning. Tovalin then drove in his third RBI of the game with a single scoring Roose from second base giving the Cougars the 10-0 advantage. Kim would knock in Dykstra from third with an RBI fielder's choice ground out to bring his total to four runs batted in between the two games.

The Sharks scored three runs in the bottom half of the third inning with two, RBI-singles off of starting pitcher Isaac Mendez to uproot the freshman's fourth start of the season. He finished tossing 2.2 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out four Sharks.

The Cougars bullpen shut the Sharks down the rest of the way as four different relievers recorded scoreless outings. Seniors Spiro Valasakos, Jon Keane and John Szczesny all combined for 3.1 innings and three strikeouts before redshirt sophomore Brendan Dixon tossed a scoreless seventh inning to close out the win. 

With the score 11-3, Stroud added a hit and an RBI with a single before a wild pitch scored the final run to wrap up the 13-3 victory for Azusa Pacific and secure the first road series win this season after dropping the first game.

Inside the Boxscore:

Herrera led the team in hitting going 7-for-13 (.539) in the series with four RBI and three runs scored and increased his hitting streak to 12 games. Kim led the team with six RBI and was 5-for-16 (.313) in the series. Tovalin scored a team-high six runs in the series and is first in the same category with 16 total on the year and currently has a six-game reached base streak.

The Cougars will face off in conference play against Hawai'i Hilo on March 4th at 6:00 p.m. (HST) in the first of a four-game series.