AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougar bats put the work in early, and the pitching staff took care of business from there in a 5-2 victory over Vanguard Wednesday evening inside the Cougar Baseball Complex.
How It Happened: Jacob Freer led off the bottom of the first with a home run to deep right center. Two batters later, there were runners at the corners for Isaiah Rios. The right fielder launched a shot over the netting in right field to give the Cougars a quick 4-0 lead after the first inning.
Meanwhile, in a planned bullpen game, Kaleb Tenn was handed the ball to start. He went the first three innings, allowing a single hit while striking out five batters before passing the baton. Chris Hernandez-Vides followed with a scoreless fourth. After Aidan Franco ran into trouble in the fifth, including allowing Vanguard's first run of the game, Matthew Brock came in with one out and the bases loaded. The lefthander shut the door in the fifth, then threw three more shutout innings beyond that–including five more strikeouts–to earn the win in relief.
The Cougars got their run back in the sixth when Steven Lukasiewicz pinch hit and singled in Jason Hayes to make it 5-1. That score lasted until the ninth, when the Lions got a solo home run. But that was the only damage done to the scoreboard against ninth-inning pitcher Edwin Segovia, who picked up one more strikeout before inducing a fly to center and a groundout to end the game.
Blake Hagerty was the lone player for the Cougars with multiple hits in the game, raising his batting average to .382 for the season. Rios' three-run homer brings his team-leading RBI total to 17. The Cougars' five pitchers in the contest combined for 15 strikeouts. Azusa Pacific has won nine straight games against Vanguard dating back to 2012. The four-game series against the Lions is being split up throughout the season, with another game in Azusa coming up on March 24 before a doubleheader in Costa Mesa on April 7.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific (5-11, 3-4 PacWest) now set off on a two-series trip to Hawai'i. They will open up a four-game series against Chaminade with a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled on O'ahu for 11:00 a.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (1:00 p.m. Pacific).
