AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars got a pair of outstanding pitching performances to outlast Dominican in the first half of their four-game series Friday evening at the Cougar Softball Complex, defeating the Penguins by 4-1 and 2-1 final scores

GAME ONE: AZUSA PACIFIC 4, Dominican 1

The opener started off with a bang for the home team as Kinsey Erickson led off with a triple into the right-center field gap.  Carley Gay would single her home and just two batters in, Azusa Pacific led 1-0. 

The score would stay that way until the bottom of the fourth when Mia Alvarez singled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on a Sierra Sandoval hit, and came around on another single, this time by Aleah Delgado to double the Cougars' advantage. Dominican would answer back with one run in the top of the sixth and had the tying run at third with one out.  But the defensive play of the game ended the threat, as Gay caught a fly ball in shallow right and fired a dart to Delgado at the plate in time for a double play to end the inning.

In a quirk of city planning, the old Santa Fe Railroad track runs behind the third base line and a freight train happened to pull up as the bottom half of the sixth inning got underway, and was greeted by a solo home run from Alvarez down the left field line to stretch the lead back to two runs, the shortstop's third long ball of the year. 

Sandoval would hit a one-out double, and pinch runner Sommer Quinones would come around to score on another double by Ally Chin two batters later, providing extra insurance. Katie Korstrom retired the side in order in the seventh for the complete game victory, scattering just three hits in the game while also striking out three batters.

GAME TWO: AZUSA PACIFIC 2, Dominican 1

The nightcap was a pitchers' duel as Sydnie Sahhar and her Penguin counterpart matched zeros on the scoreboard through the first four innings.  Indeed, Sahhar did not allow a runner to get past second base until the seventh.  The junior southpaw was aided by a defense that turned ground ball double plays to end both the fourth and sixth innings, while allowing three hits and striking out two in the contest.

The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when the bottom of the Cougar lineup sprung to life. Julia Olivares led off the inning with a single.  Chin beat out a bunt for an infield hit, then Erickson's bunt attempt resulted in a fielding error to load the bases with nobody out. Gay rose to the occasion and hit a line drive off the first baseman's glove for a double that would score two. That would prove enough for Sahhar, who allowed a bases loaded walk with two out in the seventh, but calmly induced a popup back to the circle to end the game and finish off the sweep.

By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific is now 38-3 all-time against Dominican, including 22 victories in a row, a streak that dates all the way back to April of 2015.  The Cougars have won 16 straight in the series at home. That streak goes back into the NAIA era, all the way to 2009.  Across the two games Azusa Pacific had eight extra-base hits, including six doubles, while Korstrom and Sahhar combined to allow just one earned run and six hits over 14 innings in the circle.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (24-18, 12-10 PacWest) will wrap up their four-game series with Dominican, taking on the Penguins in another doubleheader starting at 12:00 noon Saturday.  Both games of the twinbill can be livestreamed HERE.