AZUSA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific relied on its offense to complete a two-game doubleheader sweep of Point Loma at the Cougar Baseball Complex Saturday. Brett Soria's 7 RBI in game one helped the Cougars win 14-6, before Azusa Pacific used three home runs to get by the Sea Lions in game two, 9-5.
Soria's four-hit game that included a two-run home run in the second inning, and a pair of two-RBI singles was the best of his career to this point. His career-best four hits, and seven RBI both doubled his previous career-highs.
In game two, freshman Omar Lopez hit a towering three-run home run to left field to open the scoring. Casey Dykstra and Osvaldo Tovalin each hit solo shots later in the game to help the Cougars cruise to a 9-5 win in the nightcap.
With the two wins, the Cougars have yet to lose a PacWest Southern California Pod series this season. In the six series', Azusa Pacific has won five series and swept one in PacWest action and sport a 10-2 record at home in such games.
How it Happened (Game 1): After an RBI groundout from Dykstra opened the scoring in the second frame, Tido Robles singled in the second run to make it 2-0. Two pitches later, Soria launched his third home run of the season to double the lead.
For Point Loma, Easton Waterman followed his walk-off homerun on Friday with another solo home run, this time the opposite way in the third before he singled in another run in the fourth to cut the deficit in half. Point Loma got within a run on an RBI groundout which would end starting pitcher Brendan Dixon's day at 3.2 innings.
Soria and Aaron Roose responded in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of RBI singles to double the lead once again, this time to 6-3.
Once again the Sea Lions came within a run with two runs in the fifth. Freshman Korey Shepard came into the game and left the tying run stranded at third after a groundout with the infield in and a strikeout to end the frame.
Soria once again would put the Cougars farther ahead in the seventh inning with a two-RBI single to left with the bases loaded and two outs. It was his third hit of the game and brought his RBI total to five and counting.
In an 8-6 game in the eighth, Azusa Pacific executed a hit-and-run to perfection for a run. With Tovalin stealing on the pitch, Evan Banks slapped one the other way into the right field corner that scored Tovalin from first for a run-scoring double. The Cougars onslaught in the eighth continued with an RBI single from Joseph Kim and an RBI walk from Spencer Rasmussen to make it 11-6. Soria then knocked in two more with the bases loaded on his third single of the game to make it 13-6. Tovalin's sacrifice fly would cap-off the six-run inning that blew the game open, 14-6.
Shepard received the win after tossing four innings and allowing just one earned run. He needed just 52 pitches to get 12 of the 16 batters he faced out. Another freshman, David Hays, struck out the side in the ninth inning to secure the 14-6 win for the Cougars.
How it Happened (Game 2): Lopez's three-run shot to left field got the scoring started in the second. The true freshman's seventh home run of the season cleared the net in left field and eventually landed in the Modshire campus apartments. A Banks RBI single and Kim sacrifice fly gave Azusa Pacific a 5-0 lead after the first two innings.
Starting pitcher Isaac Mendez started the game strong with three scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and punching out three Point Loma batters.
Dykstra increased the lead to six runs with his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot down the left field line.
Mendez ran into trouble in the fourth, Brett O'Toole's three-run shot cut the deficit in half. After Mendez walked the next batter he faced, he departed tossing 3.2 total innings. Freshman Hayden Merda entered the game and gave up a run-scoring triple on the second pitch he threw. The run was charged to Mendez as Merda stranded the runner at third with a grounder back to him to end the inning with the score 6-4.
Tovalin added his 12th homer of the season on a line-drive to right field in the bottom of the fourth to give the Cougars a three-run lead. His no-doubter off the nets in right extends his PacWest lead in home runs to four.
The Cougars would score two late in the game on wild pitches and go onto win 9-5 to take three of the four games from Point Loma for the second time this season.
With the wins the Cougars improve to 24-8 and 15-6 in PacWest play.
Inside the Boxscore
Tovalin's on-base streak was extended to 33 games after he reached on a walk in the first game and had multiple hits in the second. He's reached in all 32 games this season and reached in the final game of the shortened 2020 season.
Up Next: The Cougars will finish their game that is in progress with Biola on April 28th. The game will start at 2:00 p.m. The game in progress will begin in the bottom of the seventh inning (game was scheduled to be seven innings) with Azusa Pacific leading 7-6.
