AZUSA, Calif. – A pair of Azusa Pacific pitchers kept Concordia without a hit for six innings Tuesday evening while Bradley Taylor and Josh Chavez hit their first collegiate home runs as the Cougars beat the Golden Eagles 12-8 inside the Cougar Baseball Complex.

How It Happened:  Azusa Pacific's bats were active throughout the night, scoring in every inning but the seventh.  Cameron Lee and Jeffrey Castillo opened the game with consecutive doubles to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.  In the second, the first two runners again got hits, followed by a sacrifice fly from George Christison to double the Cougars' advantage.  An error and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for Castillo, who doubled into center to plate all three runners and make it 5-0 after two.  Diego Frey would get in on the action with an RBI single in the third inning to make it 6-0; all the while Cameron Kessel was shutting down the Golden Eagles' lineup, scattering two walks across three innings.

In the fourth, the Cougars tacked on two more runs.  Will Medina got a one-out single, then came around on the 10th home run of the year from Omar Lopez.  Lee picked up his second double of the game to drive in another run in the fifth.  With two out in the sixth, a runner was on first for Taylor.  The junior made his first hit of the season count, launching a line drive over the wall in left for a two-run homer.  Between this and Joey Frey's three spotless innings, the Cougars led 11-0 after six while having faced just two batters over the minimum.

Concordia finally got into the hit column in the seventh and put up three runs in both the seventh and eighth to narrow the gap to 11-6.  But in the bottom half, Chavez got in on the party, launching a no-doubter to right center in only his third collegiate at bat.  Concordia scratched another pair of runs across the plate in the ninth, but the Cougars held on for their third win over Concordia in five days.

By the Numbers:  Eleven different Cougars got a hit in the game, including the first official hits of the season for three players.  Azusa Pacific used six different pitchers on the evening, who combined to strike out nine Golden Eagle batters.  In all, the Cougars had a season-high 21 players see action on the field.  Kessel threw a season-high three shutout innings for his first career victory.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (23-16) returns to conference play with another edition of the Cornerstone Cup, as they visit Biola for a doubleheader on Friday in La Mirada.  First pitch for the opening game is scheduled for 12:00 noon, and both games can be livestreamed HERE.