NAMPA, Idaho — Top seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional, Azusa Pacific bowed out of the NCAA tournament after losing to Western Oregon 16-5 in an elimination game Friday afternoon. The Cougars finished the season with a 33-10 record and won a PacWest title for the fourth consecutive season in a row.

The Cougars scored first on Spencer Rasmussen's home run in the second inning, but trailed from the third inning on. After defeating Northwest Nazarene 2-1 in the opening game of the regional, No. 3 seed Western Oregon is now one win away from the College World Series. They used 17 hits to score 16 runs which was the second-most the Cougars allowed all season.

After a six-run fifth inning for Western Oregon, Osvaldo Tovalin's three-run home run in the seventh gave the Cougars life, down 10-5. But, the Wolves added insurance and halted Azusa Pacific's momentum with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame before adding three more to win 16-5.

How it Happened: Rasmussen's solo shot to deep right center field gave the Cougars their first lead of the West Regional. The second-year freshman became the sixth Cougar to hit for double digit home runs joining Tovalin, Aaron Roose, Omar Lopez, Casey Dykstra, and Nick Estrella.

Starting pitcher A.J. Woodall retired eight of the first nine Wolves he faced including striking out the first two batters of the inning in the third. A two-out single and a Cougar error kept the third frame alive before a walk and a grand slam put Western Oregon ahead 4-1.

To start the fifth, Rasmussen, Dykstra, and Brett Soria all reached to load the bases with one-out but the Cougars weren't able to capitalize stranding all three on base. Western Oregon escaped the jam and carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning to score six runs. Woodall allowed a solo home run to lead off the inning before the Cougars went to the bullpen down 5-1. Woodall tossed four plus innings allowing just one earned run and struck out four in his first loss of the 2021 season. The Wolves doubled their run total with another solo shot before two doubles, two walks, and a sacrifice fly added four more in the six-run inning to put their lead to 10-1.

The Cougars added one run on an RBI groundout in the sixth before D2CCA's All-West Region Player of the Year hit his 15th home run of the season to give Azusa Pacific hope in the seventh. The Cougars stranded two in scoring position with one out after the Tovalin homer to keep them down 10-5.

Western Oregon continued to score runs against the Cougars bullpen putting the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh with three runs on three hits to take an eight-run advantage into the final two frames. 

Azusa Pacific loaded the bases in the eighth on a pair of Wolves errors but stranded three more with one out. The Cougars left 12 runners on total throughout the game and left the bases loaded with less than two outs twice.

The Wolves added three more runs in the eighth before closing it out in the ninth to win 16-5.

Azusa Pacific has now reached the West Regional four consecutive seasons and five of the last six seasons under head coach Paul Svagdis. This is the second straight season the Cougars have been the top-seed in the West Region.