IRVINE, Calif. — Azusa Pacific baseball defeated Concordia 10-2 in the first game behind Nick Estrella and Casey Dykstra home runs and seven shutout innings from A.J. Woodall. In the nightcap, the Cougars offense charged by home runs from Brett Soria and Osvaldo Tovalin completed the sweep winning 10-8.
How it Happened (Game 1): The Cougars wasted no time jumping on the board in the first inning, Joseph Kim broke open the scoring with a sacrifice fly scoring Tovalin from third. Estrella then hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot that increased the Cougar lead to 3-0.
In the third and fifth innings, Azusa Pacific added a pair of runs via a Tovalin RBI single and an Aaron Roose sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Woodall cruised through his first four innings allowing three hits while striking out four. After walking the only two batters of his outing with two outs in the fifth, Woodall responded by retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced. During that stretch he punched out another four Eagles while only allowing one-hit before walking off the mound with seven scoreless frames to his name.
In the sixth, Dykstra blew the game open with a three-run home run to right field, his second of the season. The Cougars offense added extra insurance runs in the eighth and ninth courtesy of freshman Omar Lopez and Cade Marshman's pair of RBI singles.
With a 10-0 lead, Concordia scored the final two runs in the bottom of the ninth before the game ended with the final score of 10-2. Woodall was awarded his third victory of the season.
How it Happened (Game 2): The Cougars opened the scoring once again in game two, this time it was a Brett Soria three-run home run that cleared the fence in right center field. Soria's first ever collegiate home run gave Azusa Pacific a strong 3-0 lead early.
After Estrella scored on an errant Concordia throw to make it a four-run advantage, Tido Robles drove in his first run of the season with a single to centerfield that scored Kim.
Starting pitcher Cory Dawson battled through his first two innings unscathed before he gave up a three-run home run to Cooper Moore in the third to cut the deficit to 5-3. Just two innings later, Moore launched his second three-run home run of the game off Dawson, giving Concordia its first lead, 6-5.
It wasn't for long though, as the Cougars retook the lead as two came across on a costly Concordia error giving Azusa Pacific a 7-6 lead.Â
Tovalin added insurance in the seventh to finish off his stellar day at the plate. His two-run blast to right field gave the Cougars a 9-6 lead and extended his multi-hit game streak to three straight and five of the last six.
After a Kim RBI double made it 10-6, the Eagles fought back in the bottom of the seventh. Relief pitcher David Wylie continued his impressive run of great outings retiring the first six batters he faced before running into trouble in the seventh. A one-out hit-by-pitch and error put two-on before an RBI single brought the tying run to the plate. Coach Paul Svagdis decided to bring in freshman Hayden Merda who struck out the first guy he faced, before allowing a run on a wild pitch to make it 10-8. Merda preciselyÂ
A Concordia walk brought the winning run to the plate with two outs before Merda got a flyout to end the game and collect his second save of the season.
With the victory, David Wylie improved to 2-0 on the season while the Cougars win for the 11th straight time. They improve to 6-0 in PacWest play as well, atop the Southern California PacWest standings.
Up Next: The Cougars will play host to Concordia on Saturday, March 27th in a home doubleheader. Game one first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. before game two of the doubleheader will begin around 3:00 p.m.
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