SAN DIEGO, Calif. — After dropping the first game of the NCAA Division II Super Regional yesterday, Azusa Pacific baseball forced a winner-take-all game three Saturday taking game two of the series 7-2, but were unable to punch their ticket to Cary, N.C. falling in game three, 5-2. The Cougars' season ends with a 38-19 overall record as they reached the Region Championship game for the third time in the last four postseasons.
Steven Silvas tossed seven strong innings in the game one victory that was punctuated by Omar Lopez's go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning. Casey Dykstra recorded a pair of hits in each game today, including the game-tying solo homer in the seventh inning of today's first game. Tido Robles tallied his 18th home run of the season, sparking the comeback for Azusa Pacific in the sixth frame of game two.
Game Two: Azusa Pacific 7, Point Loma 2
Both starting pitchers brought their "A" games to start the day as Azusa Pacific starter Steven Silvas retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced. Silvas didn't allow a hit until the fourth and struck out four in the process.
The Cougars got their first two hits with two outs in the second inning but both were stranded in scoring position keeping the game locked in a 0-0 tie.
In the top of the fifth, Silvas hit the leadoff batter, just his second hit by pitch of the season, before allowing a single to put runners at the corners to start the frame. An RBI groundout plated the first run of the game for Point Loma before a two-out single from Otto Kemp doubled the advantage making it 2-0.
Azusa Pacific would make its second straight late-inning comeback, this time Tido Robles kicked it off with a solo home run to right-center in the sixth to cut the deficit in half. One inning later, Casey Dykstra tied the game with a solo shot of his own for his 16th of the season (13 of which have been solo shots).
Silvas shut down the Sea Lions in the sixth and seventh to cap off his outing with six punchouts and no walks, tying his longest outing of the season. Silvas didn't receive a decision as the game was tied when he was relieved by Hayden Merda.
Merda tossed a scoreless eighth setting the table for Azusa Pacific to take the lead late. Tied at 2-apiece still, Will Stroud walked with one out before the Sea Lions intentionally walked Robles to put two runners on. David Hays pinch-hit and lined one up the middle for a base hit before Lopez's high fly ball to deep right field just cleared the fence plating four runs in the process. Just like that the Cougars had a 6-2 lead. They would tack on another insurance run later in the frame thanks to an RBI hit by pitch with the bases loaded from Aaron Roose.
Merda shut the door in the ninth with two of his four strikeouts in his two shutout innings to secure the 7-2 victory for Azusa Pacific.
Game Three: Point Loma 5, Azusa Pacific 2
The roles were reversed in game two, this time it was the Cougars jumping out to a 2-0 lead early on before the Sea Lions mounted the comeback.
Azusa Pacific starting pitcher David Hays escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first before the offense got going in the second. A leadoff single from Spencer Rasmussen was followed by a double to left field from Lopez. With a pair of runners in scoring position and nobody out, Dykstra drove in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly.
Hays retired the side in the second and third, upping his total to four strikeouts in the process. In the top of the fourth, Dykstra's single to right allowed Lopez to get to third with one out setting up Casey O'Laughlin who made it 2-0 on a sacrifice bunt up the third baseline.
Point Loma would answer back the same way the Cougars did in game one, with a pair of solo home runs off of Hays in the fourth to tie the game, 2-2. It was just the second and third hits given up by Hays to that point.
After allowing a two-out double and an intentional walk in the fifth that would be all for Hays who tossed 4.2 innings and punched out five Sea Lions. Declan Kearney came in and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases with two outs. Then, on the first pitch to Jakob Christian, the Sea Lions' first baseman leaned into a pitch and the umpire called him out for doing so. After much discussion, the umpires corrected the call making it a strike instead of an out, therefore making the Cougars' defense return to the field. A few pitches later, Christian then delivered a single to left field that plated his second and third RBIs of the game giving Point Loma a 4-2 lead.
The Cougars' best offensive chance came in the seventh. George Christison led off with a single before two walks and loaded the bases with two outs for Spencer Rasmussen. The Sea Lions went to their bullpen and southpaw Zachary Veen got Rasmussen to ground out to end the threat.
Just moments later, Point Loma added one more for good measure with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-2.
Veen then retired the Cougars in order in the eighth and ninth to send Point Loma to the NCAA Division II College World Series by way of a 5-2 win.
By the Numbers: In his first season as Azusa Pacific's baseball coach, Kirk Nieuwenhuis won 38 games, the second-most by a first-year coach in Azusa Pacific baseball history (Jim Giacomazzi, 1985). Over the course of his five seasons, Dykstra played in 209 games as a Cougar, which is the second-most in program history. Also, with his 16th homer of the season, Dykstra passed Azusa Pacific Hall of Famer Stephen Vogt for eighth all-time with 32 career home runs. A.J. Woodall started his 45th and final game for Azusa Pacific yesterday in game one of the Super Regional, which is the most in the program's history. With nine wins this season, Woodall recorded 26 in his career which is second all-time, while his 242 career strikeouts put him third on the all-time program list. Woodall tossed 281.1 career innings at Azusa Pacific putting him fifth on the all-time program list. Declan Kearney tallied five saves this season, upping his career total to 11 which puts him in a tie for the sixth-most in the program.
