FRESNO, Calif. — Another day, another doubleheader sweep for Azusa Pacific baseball as this time they beat Fresno Pacific by scores of 13-5 and 15-9 to improve its winning streak to 16 straight games. The Cougars are now 12 games over .500 (22-10) and have the longest active win streak in all of NCAA Division II. With the two conference victories, the Cougars move into first place in the PacWest with a record of 11-3, one game ahead of Point Loma (10-4).

The Cougars' offense tallied 35 hits and 28 runs across the two games as Tido Robles knocked in seven runs on the day including a grand slam in game one. Robles, Omar Lopez, Brett Soria, and Spencer Rasmussen each recorded multiple hits in both of today's games. Azusa Pacific's pitching staff managed to keep the Sunbirds at bay, relief pitcher David Wylie dealt out of traffic in his three scoreless innings in game one which earned him the win while Korey Shepard also pitched three innings allowing just one earned run in game two to garner the win as well.

How it Happened (Game 1): The series opener was a tight back-and-forth battle until the later innings. The Cougars broke through first on an RBI single from Lopez before Rasmussen's RBI double increased the lead to 2-0.

The Sunbirds scored one run in each of the first three innings taking a 3-2 lead in the third versus starting pitcher David Hays who tossed four innings allowing three runs and striking out four. 

Wylie took over for Hays in the fifth and escaped two jams in his three full frames of shutout ball. In the fifth, Wylie stranded the bases loaded with a popout to end the inning to keep the Cougars' deficit to just one, 3-2. After a 1-2-3 inning from Wylie, the Cougars' offense scratched one across in large part due to a Fresno Pacific error to tie the game. Wylie then capped off his outing by stranding another run at third after allowing a leadoff triple in the seventh.

With the game tied at 3-apiece, the Cougars scored 10 unanswered to put the game away. Back-to-back-to-back singles with two outs scored a pair to give the Cougars a 5-3 lead through eight frames. Robles then kicked the door wide open with a grand slam that was just fair down the left-field line to make it 9-3. Rasmussen followed suit with a three-run homer later in the inning before Casey Dykstra's solo shot capped off the eight-run inning.

The Sunbirds tallied a pair in the ninth but the Cougars closed it out winning 13-5.

How It Happened (Game 2): Game two started very similarly to game one with Lopez driving in the first run of the game in the top of the first. Tyus Santa Anna drove in the second later in the inning to make it 2-0 in favour of the Cougars.

Not only did Fresno Pacific fight back, but they scored six runs against starter Brendan Dixon in just the first two innings. 

But, the Azusa Pacific offense went to work and got things going in the fourth. Soria knocked in a run with a double to open the scoring in the fourth before Robles' double down the left-field line scored two and tied the game at 6-6. Before the frame was over, three more came around to score on RBI singles from Lopez, and Casey O'Laughlin to make it 9-6. Through three and a half innings.

Robles singled in another run in the fifth to make it 10-6 before a Fresno Pacific RBI triple brought the score to 10-7. Once again the Cougars' offense responded as a four-run sixth doubled the Azusa Pacific lead.

Santa Anna scored the first run of the inning on a passed ball before Dykstra's first triple of the season scored Rasmussen to make it 12-7. Jeffrey Castillo got in on the action with an RBI double himself which drove in two to increase the advantage to seven. Cade Marshman reached on an error to close out the four-run frame to make it 15-7. 

After Dixon tossed the first two innings, the rest of the bullpen locked it down as Shepard had his best outing of the season in which he threw three innings and allowed one run. Freshman Grayson Gifford then followed with three more solid innings allowing two earned runs before Chantz Powers finished off the game with a scoreless ninth. The final score of game two was 15-9.

By the Numbers: The Cougars' three losses in conference action have come at the hands of Point Loma. Since starting conference 1-3, the Cougars have won 10 straight PacWest games. Azusa Pacific's longest winning streak in program history on the road is 14 games, with the two wins today they currently hold a 13-game road winning streak. Aaron Roose has an active 11-game reached base streak and has recorded multi-hit games in seven of the 11 including going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a walk in game one today. The senior catcher has raised his batting average from .239 to .324 during this 11-game stretch. In the 16 straight wins, the Cougars are averaging 9.88 runs per game and have outscored their opponents 158-57.

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will take on the Sunbirds once again tomorrow, Saturday, April 9th in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. before game two will begin around 3:00 p.m. To watch live click here or to follow along with live stats click here.