AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific dug itself a pair of large holes but were able to recover from one of them, winning the opening game of their doubleheader against San Francisco State 19-18 in extra innings before dropping the nightcap 10-6 at the Cougar Baseball Complex.

Game 1: Azusa Pacific 19, San Francisco State 18 (11 innings)

The Cougars trailed almost immediately, as seven of the first eight Gators reached base.  In all, 13 San Francisco State batters came up in the first inning, putting Azusa Pacific in a 9-0 deficit before ever stepping into the batters' box.  And when the Gators put another run on the board in the top of the second, the Cougars found themselves trailing by double digits.  Azusa Pacific got on the board in the fourth courtesy of an error and a Will Medina double to cut the deficit to 10-2, but the Gators answered right back with two of their own in the 5th to reclaim the 10-run lead.

The comeback began in earnest in the bottom of the 5th.  Catcher Keegan Rodin led off with a single.  Cade Marshman  and Spencer Rasmussen followed with consecutive doubles to put a pair of runs on the board.  A walk later, there were two on and nobody out for Omar Lopez, who broke out of his slump in a big way with a three-run homer to left field, cutting the deficit in half.  The following inning, Rodin again started the rally with a one-out double.  Marshman singled him home.  Mikey Easter drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive, then Lopez singled in another run.  Cameron Lee then came within a foot of tying the game, hitting a two-run triple off the wall in right to pull within a run at 12-11.

San Francisco State fired back with four runs in the top of the 7th to reclaim a five-run lead.  Rodin singled in Medina to pull one back in the 7th, then Allan Camarillo singled in another run in the 8th.  The Cougars came up in the bottom of the 9th still trailing by three.  The first two batters of the inning walked, bringing Easter up to the plate.  The junior sent the first pitch he saw over the fence to the right of the scoreboard in left center to finally tie the score.  

After a scoreless 10th, the Gators got a two-run homer in the top of the 11th to reclaim the lead.  But with one out in the bottom half of the inning, George Christison, the only player in the Cougar lineup without an RBI in the game, doubled.  Medina drove him in with a single.  A walk and a wild pitch later, Rodin drove in the tying run with a groundout.  Then, batting for the 8th time in the game, Marshman singled up the middle to plate the winning run, giving the Cougars their only lead of the contest.  All nine players in the Cougars' starting lineup reached base at least twice, with Medina and Rodin each collecting four hits in the game.

Game 2: San Francisco State 10, Azusa Pacific 6

The Gators again jumped out to an early lead, scoring two in the 1st and another in the 2nd.  Azusa Pacific got on the board quicker this time, as Ethan Toyama doubled to lead off the second and would score on a Camarillo single.  The teams traded a pair of runs each in the third, with Carson Collett driving in two for the Cougars with a two-out single.  But the Gators would break the game open with four in the top of the fifth.  Lopez would hit a solo homer to open the 5th inning for the Cougars, and Rasmussen would hit a two-run shot in the 6th, but that was as close as the Cougars would get.

By the Numbers:  The Cougars' 10-run comeback in game 1 was their largest in the NCAA era (2012-present).  The last time they overcame even a 9-run deficit was March 25, 2009 against The Master's, a game they also won 19-18 in extra innings after trailing 12-3 in the 4th inning.  The Cougars got 32 hits on the day from 12 different batters.  On the mound, the Cougars wound up using 11 pitchers over the course of the doubleheader, with only Joey Frey recording more than six outs.  The staff did record 17 strikeouts over the two games.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (4-8) wraps up their series with San Francisco State with a single day game Saturday at 1:00 p.m.  The game can be streamed live HERE if you are unable to make it out to the ballpark.