AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific got its offense rolling in the middle innings of an 11-3, 15-3 doubleheader sweep over Biola on Saturday, completing a PacWest-opening 4-game series sweep over the Eagles.
 
Aaron Roose highlighted a 7-run fourth inning in the opener, erasing Biola's early 3-0 lead with his first career grand slam, a no-doubt shot over the left field fence that pushed the Cougars into a 6-3 lead. Azusa Pacific never looked back, adding 5 more runs in the 11-3 win before producing 15 more runs in the 7-inning nightcap for a 15-3 victory.
 
Azusa Pacific's pitching staff was just as impressive as its high-powered offense, responding to Biola's early 3-run outburst in the first inning of Saturday's opener with 8 shutout frames in the opener before Nick Estrella and a pair of relievers limited the Eagles to 3 runs on 3 hits in the nightcap.
 
With the sweep, Azusa Pacific improved to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in PacWest play, while Biola dropped to 0-4 as the Eagles started their campaign with this weekend's PacWest-opening series.
 
How it Happened (Game 1): Azusa Pacific spotted Biola an early 3-0 lead after Ryan Gallegos opened the scoring in the top of the first with a 1-out, 2-run home run. RobertAnthony Cruz added a 2-out RBI single to make it 3-0 before the Cougars got to the plate, and Biola stranded runners at second and third in consecutive innings to escape damage and preserve the 3-run lead through the first 3 innings of the contest.
 
The wheels came off quickly for Biola in the bottom of the fourth, however, with the first 6 Cougar batters all reaching safely. Griffen Herrera and Spencer Rasmussen worked back-to-back walks to start the frame before Omar Lopez and Casey Dykstra delivered consecutive singles. Dykstra's base hit up the middle scored 2 runs, cutting the Biola lead to 3-2, and Brett Soria was hit by pitch to load the bases. Aaron Roose's home run to left cleared the bases and gave the Cougars a 6-3 lead, and Griffen Herrera added a 2-out RBI single to make it a 7-run outburst in the fourth inning.
 
Lopez added a solo home run in a two-run fifth inning, and Azusa Pacific added 2 more in the seventh on Osvaldo Tovalin's 2-out single up the middle with the bases loaded to push the lead to 11-3.
 
Declan Kearney provided 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to claim the victory, and Korey Shepard and Shane Cronin each tossed scoreless frames to close out the victory.
 
Lopez went 4-for-5 with 3 runs in the contest, while Herrera and Brett Soria collected 2 hits each to help lead the 11-run, 12-hit attack.
 
How it Happened (Game 2): Biola scored first again in the nightcap, and again it was the longball that provided the game's first run when Brandon Thomas led off the third inning with a solo home run to left field. The lead didn't last long, as Azusa Pacific answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles from Brett Soria and Osvaldo Tovalin.
 
The Cougars added 4 runs in the fourth, 5 runs in the fifth, and 4 more in the sixth to extend the lead to 15-1. Aaron Roose and Tovalin each delivered 2-run singles in the fourth inning, and Tovalin added a 2-run double in the fifth as he went 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs in the game. Spencer Rasmussen provided the loudest damage the rest of the way with his two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth for his first career home run.
 
Nick Estrella registered 6 strikeouts, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits in 5 innings to earn the victory. David Wylie and Mike Snyder each tossed an inning to finish off the win.
 
Aaron Roose and Osvaldo Tovalin each went 3-for-4 as the Cougars produced 15 runs on 15 hits.
 
Inside The Box Score: With Biola scoring 3 runs in the first inning of the opener and 2 innings in the seventh of the nightcap, Azusa Pacific held the Eagles to just a single run in a span of 14 innings in between… Since Biola joined the PacWest in 2018, the Cougars have scored 40-plus runs in each of the 4-game series between the programs, scoring 43 runs in 2018, 50 in 2019, and 42 in 2021… This was Azusa Pacific's first sweep of a 4-game season series with the Eagles since 2007.
 
Up Next: The Cougars play another 4-game PacWest series next week, visiting Concordia for a doubleheader in Irvine on Friday, March 26.