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Azusa Pacific University Athletics

The Online Home of the Azusa Pacific Cougars
preece
Shannon Hardy
11
Winner Azusa Pacific AZUSAPAC 23-21
8
Utah Tech UTU 20-13
Winner
Azusa Pacific AZUSAPAC
23-21
11
Final
8
Utah Tech UTU
20-13
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Azusa Pacific AZUSAPAC 2 0 1 2 1 2 3 0 0 11 11 0
Utah Tech UTU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 1 8 16 3

W: Tornero, Joel (4-1) L: Tyler Ray (3-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Division Won

Cougars build early lead and hold off late surge to defeat Division I Trailblazers 11–8.

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Azusa Pacific earned a statement road victory Friday night, defeating Division I Utah Tech 11–8 at Bruce Hurst Field behind a fast start and timely hitting.

The Cougars (23–21) jumped out early and maintained control through the middle innings before withstanding a late rally from the Trailblazers to secure the win.

Azusa Pacific wasted no time setting the tone in the first inning. Bryce Robinette and Tyler Preece reached base to open the game, and Jacob Hayes delivered an RBI double to center. Isaiah Rios followed with a run-scoring groundout to give APU a 2–0 lead.

The Cougars added to their advantage in the third, capitalizing on a Utah Tech error to extend the lead to 3–0, before pushing it to 5–2 in the fourth. Aeden Alexander's RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Steven Lukasiewicz highlighted the inning as APU continued to apply pressure.

Hayes provided another key swing in the fifth, launching a solo home run to make it 6–2. The Cougars kept building in the sixth, as Jacob Freer and Robinette each delivered RBI singles to stretch the lead to 8–2.

They broke the game open in the seventh inning. Rios doubled down the line, and Blake Hagerty followed with a two-run double before Alexander added an RBI single, giving the Cougars an 11–2 cushion.

Utah Tech mounted a late push in the eighth, highlighted by a grand slam from Cooper Smith that cut the deficit to 11–6. The Trailblazers added two more runs in the final innings, but the Cougars were able to close it out, highlighted by a game-ending triple play in the ninth to secure the 11–8 victory.

Joel Tornero earned the win after five strong innings, allowing two runs while striking out four. David O'Neill provided two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and Andrew Miller recorded the final outs to seal the win.

Offensively, Azusa Pacific totaled 11 hits, with Hayes leading the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Freer, Robinette and Alexander each contributed multi-hit efforts.

The Cougars will look to build on the momentum as the series continues against Utah Tech.

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