AZUSA, Calif. –  It took a little magic, but the Cougars completed a sweep of Hawai'i Hilo Thursday evening at the Cougar Baseball Complex, rallying for a 10-9 victory in game one before earning an 8-3 decision in the nightcap.

Game One:  Azusa Pacific 10, Hawai'i Hilo 9

The Cougars struck early, as they did in every game of this series.  Carson Collett singled in Mikey Easter to give the home team a quick 1-0 lead in the first, then Omar Lopez led off the second with a solo shot to double the advantage.  While Hilo got a run back in the third, the Cougars put a third scratch on the board in as many innings in the third on a sac fly by Easter.  Hilo again answered back with a run in the fourth to make it 3-2, then took their first lead of the series with four consecutive two-out hits in the top of the sixth.  That lead would be short-lived as the Cougars strung together three singles of their own in the bottom half of the inning, with Lopez collecting his second RBI of the day.

Hilo broke the game open with three runs in the seventh and another in the top of the eighth.  But the Cougars were just setting the stage for their own late-inning heroics, as the first six Cougars all reached base in the bottom of the inning.  Two hit batters, three straight singles and a walk brought in three runs and loaded the bases with nobody out.  Allan Camarillo drove in the tying run on a fielder's choice, but the game went to the ninth tied at 8-8.  Hilo again got a solo home run to retake the lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, with one out and runners at the corners, Diego Frey was able to reach base on a fielder's choice to drive in Easter and tie the game.  After Danny Yanez reached a 3-0 count, he was intentionally walked to bring up Will Medina, who deposited the first pitch he saw into the gap in right center for a walk-off double.  Lopez went 3-4 at the plate with 3 RBI, while Aidan Langley limited the Vulcans to two runs in four innings to start the game in a no-decision.

Game Two:  Azusa Pacific 8, Hawai'i Hilo 3 (7 innings)

Cameron Lee gave Azusa Pacific a quick 2-0 lead with a home run deep to left center two batters into the game.  The Cougars would bat around in the opening inning, picking up two more runs on a Lopez single up the middle to double their lead to 4-0.  George Christison, who scored on the Lee home run in the first inning, came around again on a passed ball in the second to make it 5-0.  Those runs would prove important as the Vulcans erupted for three in the top of the third to make the game close again.

But Joey Frey came in from the bullpen in the fourth and retired the Vulcans in order, the first of three shutout innings the southpaw would toss to earn the victory.  Easter led off the bottom half of the inning with a triple off the wall in left center, and would score on a Cade Marshman single through a drawn-in infield two batters later to make the score 6-3.  The next two Cougars would also single to load the bases, then Will Medina forced in Marshman with a walk to regain the four-run advantage.  In the sixth, Medina would get a one-out single and come around to score on a two-out Christison double to complete the scoring.  Frey struck out five batters in his three innings of work to earn his first win of the season, while Easter and Marshman each had three of the team's 13 hits.

By the Numbers:  Lopez had a five hit, five-RBI day at the plate.  HItting in the three hole in both games, Easter went a combined 4-5 with two walks and five runs scored.  In all, 11 different Cougars drove in at least one run in the doubleheader.  Azusa Pacific had runners on the bases the entire day, earning 25 hits and 12 walks in the two games.  During their current 10-game winning streak, the Cougars have scored 99 runs while batting .361 with 18 home runs as a team.

Up Next:  Now back at .500 on the season, Azusa Pacific (15-15, 10-5 PacWest) head down the freeway to Irvine next week for a four-game series against Concordia.  First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.