Junior pitcher Zach Hedges threw 10 strikeouts and held the Hawks to two runs in game two of the Cougars’ doubleheader sweep on Friday, March 7. Courtesy: Ken Williams
Azusa Pacific University won the first game of a home doubleheader 6-1 on Friday, March 7 against the Holy Names Hawks.
In the first inning, Hawks junior first baseman Matthew Farias paused the game with a hard hit to the left field light, shattering it and littering the field with glass. But despite a man on first, no one made it home until the Cougars came to bat.
Cougar junior center fielder Joseph Daris hit a home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first to take an early lead, 1-0.
No more bases were taken until the top of the third, when Azusa Pacific sophomore pitcher Josh Staumont walked senior right fielder Jacob Westhorpe, but then threw out Holy Names’ junior outfielder Matthew Dufford and Westhorpe in what proved to be a snappy double play.
At the bottom of the third, Daris got to first base through a single, stole second, reached third off a groundball by junior left fielder Ryan Santana, and came home for his second run of the game off a sac fly from sophomore third baseman Daniel Martin. This extended the Cougar lead to 2-0.
The next four runs occurred in the bottom of the fourth, as senior right fielder Matt Kimmel hit a home-run and sophomore shortstop Andrew Carillo and junior second baseman Blake James both scored off a two-run triple down the left field line by Daris. Santana then doubled to right center, bringing Daris home for his third run of the game and increasing the divide between the Cougars and the Hawks to 6-0.
The Hawks made it onto the board in the top of the seventh. As they loaded the bases, junior third baseman Zach Verlaan singled to right field, scoring sophomore shortstop Dustin Zeisler to make it 6-1.
Game one’s win brought them to a 7-4 record with a 3-0 Pacific West Conference record.
With an explosive four-run first inning to start the second game, the Azusa Pacific baseball team convincingly defeated Holy Names by a score of 9-2. The win extended the Cougars’ winning streak to six in a row.
Santana was the first to send the ball out of the park in the first inning, putting the score at 1-0. After a throwing error by the Hawks that allowed Martin to score, senior outfielder Domenic Biagini smacked a three-run homer to right field, bringing in junior first baseman Jordan Brower, who also hit a home run in the sixth. For Brower, this is his third homer of the season.
“For Jordan it’s started defensively. He’s an outstanding defensive first baseman,” head coach Paul Svagdis said. “I’m real happy about his hitting process right now. He’s being real simple, and it’s great to see him have personal success like that because when you have production in the middle of the lineup, it helps the entire team.”
On the defensive side, Hedges alone accounted for 10 strikeouts against the Hawks with one earned run coming out of the second game.
“The pitchers did a really nice job. Staumont did a great job of really competing inning-by-inning. When you’re playing a four-game series and have your number one go out and throw a complete game it really helps you,” Svagdis said. “And then in game two, Hedges did great. I thought he really battled. They made him work for everything. He did a real good job of competing.”
Azusa Pacific improves to 10-4 overall and 4-0 in PacWest Conference play after the doubleheader sweep on Friday.