Azusa, Calif - Azusa Pacific opened up play in the NCAA Division II West Regional this evening with a 10-6 victory over Western Oregon. In his first season as Azusa Pacific's head coach, Kirk Nieuwenhuis has led the program to its fifth consecutive postseason appearance. Azusa Pacific came into this regional with a 34-16 record and finished second in the PacWest, while Western Oregon came into it with a 34-19 record, after claiming the GNAC tournament title. 

A.J. Woodall tossed eight innings for the Cougars, striking out nine, making him third all time in the Cougar Baseball record books for strikeouts with 237. Tido Robles and Omar Lopez turned in multi hit performances, each picking up two RBI along with Casey Dykstra's two RBI performance. Casey O'Laughlin had a three RBI day after a three run homerun in the eighth inning.  

How It Happened - Both teams opened by scoring in the first inning. Western Oregon singled to left, then proceeded to steal second and came around via a pop up single to the catcher. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Robles doubled to left center and was brought around to score on a fielding error by the Wolves third baseman. 

In the third, Robles came through again via a two RBI single that brought home Jeffrey Castillo and George Christison to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead. After what looked like a 6-4-3 double play by Western Oregon, the call was overturned and Robles saw himself at second base with two outs. Lopez took advantage of the situation, taking the first pitch he saw to the left field netting for a two-run home run, giving Azusa Pacific a 5-1 advantage. 

The Wolves led off the top of the fifth inning with a solo homerun down the left field line to cut the deficit to 5-2, but the Cougars were able to respond in their half of the sixth. With Lopez on first, Dykstra homered to left center on the first pitch he saw, which was his 13th long ball of his senior campaign. The two-run blast extended the Cougars' lead to 7-2.

Azusa Pacific tacked on insurance runs in their bottom half of the eighth when O'Laughlin drove his seventh home run of the season into the left field netting, giving the Cougars a 10-2 lead. 

Woodall turned in eight innings of work for Azusa Pacific, striking out nine and only allowing two runs. David Wylie entered in relief in the ninth, after giving up a grand slam, he struck out the last batter he faced to secure a 10-6 victory for the Cougars. 

By the Numbers: The Cougar defense was outstanding on the day, not allowing an error on 25 balls put in play. Woodall struck out nine, tying his season high, and the Azusa Pacific staff struck out 11 on the day between Woodall and Wylie. The Cougars had three home runs on the day, and Dykstra collected two hit by pitches, giving him 26 on the year. 

Up Next: With the win, Azusa Pacific will now face Cal State Monterey Bay in a best of three series starting tomorrow at 2:00 pm at the Cougar Baseball Complex. If you cannot attend, you can watch here!