AZUSA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific baseball, led by its offense that tallied 42 runs on the day, dismantled BioLa in Saturday's doubleheader winning game one by a score of 15-8, before winning game two, 27-3 at the Cougar Baseball Complex. Across both games, Azusa Pacific mashed 11 home runs, including a season-high seven in game two. With the doubleheader sweep, the Cougars have now won 10 in a row improving to 16-10 overall. Azusa Pacific has taken down its rival Biola in eight of their last 10 meetings the past two seasons.

Omar Lopez led the offense with a home run in each game, sparking the Cougars' comeback in game one with a three-run shot before going 4-for-4 in the game, he followed that up with another three-run homer in game two. Spencer Rasmussen hit three home runs today as he hit a pair of three-run homers in game one before tallying another three-run bomb in game two. Tido Robles mirrored Rasmussen's game one with a pair of three-run homers himself in the nightcap. Quinn Cotter also smacked a grand slam over the nets in left field to tie a bow on the blowout second game victory to put the exclamation point on the doubleheader sweep.

Isaac Mendez tossed six strong innings in game two to pick up his third win of the year while Hayden Merda and Brendan Dixon each pitched three innings in game one, Dixon improved to 3-0 on the year while Merda tallied his third save of the season.

How it Happened (Game 1): Starting pitcher A.J. Woodall allowed three straight hits to start the game as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead before adding a third run in the first on a two-out RBI increasing the advantage to three.

Biola extended its lead to 5-0 with a pair of solo home runs in the second and third innings to end Woodall's day on the mound.

The Cougars battled back in the fourth with a five-run inning that changed the momentum of the entire day. Lopez's three-run homer cut the deficit to 5-3 before Casey Dykstra tied the game with a two-run shot to right field.

The Eagles would take their second lead of the game with a solo homer off of Dixon in the fifth to make it 6-5 before Azusa Pacific gained its first lead of the day in the bottom of the sixth. Rasmussen's three-run home run down the right-field line was the swing that granted the lead, scoring Lopez and David Hays in the process. George Christison's sacrifice fly later in the frame made it 9-6.

Oscar Serratos tallied his third home run of the game for Biola with a solo shot to left field off of Merda to make it 9-7 before the Cougars' offense responded once again. The six-run bottom of the seventh was highlighted by Rasmussen's second, three-run homer, while a trio of Cougars each recorded RBI hits in the inning to make it 15-7.

Merda allowed another run on an RBI groundout in the eighth before tossing a clean ninth inning to complete the three-inning save for his third of the season, securing the 15-8 win.

How it Happened (Game 2): Before game two, Azusa Pacific recognized the introduction of its newly named President, Dr. Adam Morris. Dr. Morris is set to become the 18th President in the University's history and had the privilege of tossing out the ceremonial first pitch.

With the momentum of game one, the Cougars' offense kept it rolling with a three-run first inning that saw Casey O'Laughlin and Lopez each tally RBI doubles. The offense surged ahead in the second frame on the back of a two-run bomb from Christison before Lopez's three-run homer broke the game wide open making it 8-0.

Just one inning later, Robles tallied the first of his three-run home runs in game two to up the advantage to 11-0. The Eagles scored on a solo home run but the Cougars' offense kept cooking in the fourth. Rasmussen's third, three-run homer of the day was sent to deep right-center to make it 14-1 before Robles knocked in three more with one swing later in the fourth to make it 17-1.

Freshman Carson Collett got in on the action in the fifth with a pair of RBIs on a single to increase the score to 20-1. 

Mendez finished his outing in the sixth stranding a pair of runners in scoring position to secure his third win of the season. The outing was his second-longest of the year, he allowed just four hits and one earned run while striking out three.

With the score of 20-3, Azusa Pacific loaded the bases in the seventh and a pair of run-scoring singles increased the lead to 19 runs. Then, Quinn Cotter unloaded on a 3-2 pitch, clearing the nets in left field to empty the bases and put the exclamation on the blowout win. Tyus Santa Anna capped off the win with a solo home run of his own to up the run total to 27 in game two and 42 across the two games.

By the Numbers: The Cougars' 27 runs scored in game two is the highest since 2009 when they tallied 32 in an NAIA win over San Diego Christian. It's the second time in the last three seasons the Cougars have tallied 20 or more runs on the Eagles after beating them 24-13 at the Cougar Baseball Complex in 2019. The Cougars' offense set season highs in the following categories in game two: hits (22), home runs (7), RBIs (25), and runs scored (27).

Up Next: The two teams will face-off in the final non-conference between them tomorrow, Saturday, March 26th in La Mirada, Calif. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to find the live stream click here, or the live stat link here.