AZUSA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific baseball hit 11 home runs in the two-game split with rival Biola Friday afternoon. The Cougars fell in game one 13-11 despite a late comeback and seven home runs. Before dominating game two 14-0 in which they smashed four homers in the victory.
David Hays, Osvaldo Tovalin, and Nick Estrella each hit two home runs today. Hays hit two solo shots in game one off the bench, Tovalin showed off the opposite field power with one to left field in each game, while Estrella hit two in the nightcap to help power the Cougars 14-0 win.
Cory Dawson tossed his second consecutive complete game shutout in game two, punching out a Cougar career-high 10 in his fourth win of the year.
How it Happened (Game 1): In the first inning, both starting pitchers surrendered leadoff hits, as they each worked around them and posted scoreless innings. Following the leadoff double, A.J. Woodall went on to retire the next seven batters in order.
The Eagles broke the scoreless tie in the third inning with a RobertAnthony Cruz two-run home run. They continued their scoring in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single, the damage could have been worse as the Eagles left two runners on base.
The Cougars opened their scoring on the weekend with a Tovalin fifth inning two-run homerun. The opposite field homer scored Brett Soria as he reached base earlier in the inning via a hit-by-pitch. This shortened the Eagles lead, they led the Cougars 3-2 heading into the sixth inning.
Woodall's day ended in the top of the sixth inning as Korey Shepard inherited a runner on second base with one out. Shepard retired both hitters he faced on just eight pitches, this was the confidence the Cougar offense needed.
Omar Lopez led off the bottom of the inning with a single before Evan Banks drove Lopez in with a moonshot home run that cleared the left field net at the Cougar Baseball Complex. The two-run blast gave Azusa Pacific a 4-3 lead.
The Eagles responded in a big way with a six-run top of the seventh inning to re-take the lead. The Cougars hurt themselves in the inning walking in the tying run before following it up with the go-ahead run scoring on a hit-by-pitch. Later in the frame, a three-run blast by Brandon Bell gave Biola a 9-4 advantage.
Junior Aaron Roose hit a solo shot in the bottom of the frame to make it 9-5, his sixth home run of the 2021 campaign.
After a two-run shot for the Eagles in the eighth, Azusa Pacific cut into the deficit in the bottom half. Hays got things started with a solo home run to right on the first pitch he saw. The Cougars kept the pressure on with a sacrifice fly from Griffen Herrera before Estrella doubled in another run to make it 11-8 going to the ninth.
A pair of RBI singles for Biola increased their lead to five in the top half of the ninth. But the Cougars wouldn't go away so easy. Lopez, Hays, and Spencer Rasmussen started the inning with back-to-back-to-back home runs, the second time this season the Cougars have accomplished the feat. That cut the lead to two before Biola reliever Tyler Mead came into the game and recorded the final three outs to secure the Eagles first victory over the Cougars this season, 13-11.
How it Happened (Game 2): It didn't take long for the Cougars to open the scoring in the nightcap. Joseph Kim singled in a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning before Hays switched places with Kim on an RBI double to left center.
With the 3-0 early, the Cougars went back to work at the dish in the second frame. After the first two batters of the inning reached on errors, Tovalin sent his second homer of the day to the opposite field. The three-run home run put him tied for the team-lead with seven homers on the season. Azusa Pacific led 6-0 after two.
Starting pitcher Cory Dawson, coming off a complete game shutout of Point Loma last week, started strong with a 1-2-3 first frame. Then, Dawson stranded a pair of runners in the second and third innings before settling in starting in the fourth. He recorded his second clean frame of the outing in the fourth, punching out two Eagles in the process.
Tovalin singled in his fourth RBI of the game to start the scoring in the bottom of the inning, before Estrella lined one over the fence in right centerfield for a two-run shot to increase the Cougars' lead to 9-0.
Dawson's groove continued in the fifth with his second consecutive clean inning with two K's bringing his punch out total to six.
In the fifth, Roose brought one home with an RBI single before Estrella hit his second consecutive homer, this time a no-doubt three-run bomb to left field to make it 13-0.
Arguably his best inning of the outing, Dawson struck out the side in the top of the sixth. The final two batters of the frame were caught looking as the southpaw was closing in on his second consecutive complete game shutout.
Casey Dykstra then kicked the extra point with a solo blast down the left field line to increase the advantage to 14-0 in the sixth.
Dawson finished things off in the ninth recording one final strikeout, upping his total to 10, before getting a ground ball and flyout to end the game. Dawson improved to 4-0 on the season in the Cougars dominant 14-0 win.
Inside the Boxscore:
Dawson tossed his second straight complete game shutout of the season. In those 14 scoreless innings, he has tallied 17 strikeouts while surrendering just eight hits. Dawson had 10 strikeouts today alone, which is his Cougar career high. He also recorded 11 straight outs in the middle of the outing, eight of which were by strikeout. He struck out a season-high five in a row in the middle of that same stretch. Friday's outing brings his season ERA to 2.87 and his record to 4-0.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific will now take on Biola on the road in another doubleheader tomorrow, April 10. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. and game two will begin around 3:00 p.m.
