LA MIRADA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific opened up PacWest action with a doubleheader sweep of cross-town rival Biola Friday afternoon. The Cougars never trailed in either game as they won the first 6-4, before winning the nightcap 10-8.
How it Happened (Game 1): Junior catcher Aaron Roose led off the game with a double before Osvaldo Tovalin drove him in with an RBI single. The Cougars offense added two more in the opening inning courtesy of Joseph Kim's team-leading fifth home run of the season. His two-run shot put the Cougars ahead 3-0 after one-half inning.
Reigning PacWest and NCBWA Regional Pitcher of the Week, A.J. Woodall started strong with two strikeouts in the first inning. Woodall allowed a solo home run in the middle of the second before retiring five Eagles in a row into the fourth.
In the top of the fourth, senior Nick Estrella launched his first home run of the year to right-centerfield giving Azusa Pacific a 4-1 lead.
With two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the fourth, Biola scratched another across with an RBI single to cut the deficit in half. But, Woodall escaped allowing just one run before retiring six of the next eight opposing batters to finish off his six innings with six strikeouts.
Azusa Pacific's two-out rally in the eighth gave the Cougars two more runs as insurance. After back-to-back singles from Tovalin and Griffen Herrera, Kim doubled them both in to bring his RBI tally to four in the game.
With the 6-2 lead, the Eagles fought back in the bottom half of the eighth against reliever Hayden Merda. After the first three baserunners reached for Biola to start the inning, a two-run single brought the Azusa Pacific lead down to 6-4. Merda struck out the next batter before giving way to David Wylie. Biola orchestrated a double steal making it second and third but Wylie struck out the next two to escape the jam.
Junior Casey Dykstra then slammed the door shut in the ninth, striking out the side to record his second save of the season.
How it Happened (Game 2): The Cougars broke through in the opening half-inning once again in game two. Kim drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly before Estrella knocked in two runs with a triple to left-center. Freshman Omar Lopez capped off the inning with an RBI single that scored Estrella increasing the Cougars lead to 4-0.
Biola answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first against southpaw graduate transfer Cory Dawson.
Dykstra kept the offense going with a lead-off solo blast to right-center for his first of the season to increase Azusa Pacific's lead to 5-3. Later in the inning, Tovalin sent one over the wall for a two-run home run helping the Cougars' to a four-run advantage.
The Eagles chipped away at the lead plating one run in the second and another in the third before Dawson was replaced in a 7-5 game. In his third start, Dawson finally allowed his first runs of the season giving way to the Cougars bullpen after 2.1 innings.
In the fourth, the Cougars started with a pair of consecutive singles before Tovalin drove in another run with a sacrifice fly increasing the lead to 8-5.
Senior Tripp Aversa tossed two scoreless innings but was unable to get the last out of the fifth inning, surrendering two runs on an RBI single and an RBI double. Aversa was pulled for Kenneth Pettibone who stranded a pair of Eagles with a strikeout to end the threat.
The Cougars kept punching, scoring another in the top of the sixth on a passed ball to give them a two-run, 9-7 cushion.
Freshman reliever Isaac Mendez allowed a two-out RBI single in the sixth to make it a one-score game once again. Azusa Pacific scratched one more run across in the seventh after Biola threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt. With the 10-8 lead, Mendez then promptly retired the side in order in the final frame to close out the sweep with his first save of the season.
Azusa Pacific has now won seven games in a row, improving to 9-2 on the season and 2-0 in conference action.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific and Biola will face each other in a PacWest conference doubleheader at the Cougar Baseball Complex Saturday, March 20. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. as the second game should start roughly around 3:00 p.m.
