Sophomore pitcher Josh Staumont suffered his second loss of the season after he gave up five runs in the first three innings against Fresno Paciific on Thursday, March 13. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
The Azusa Pacific baseball team allowed more runs Thursday, March 13 than it has in any other game this season and left 10 men on base as players lost to Fresno Pacific 6-3 in suffering their first home loss of the season.
The Cougars’ starting pitcher, sophomore Josh Staumont, had a very rocky start. He gave up three hits and two runs in the opening frame, including the first homer allowed by an APU pitcher so far this season. The Sunbirds sustained their hot start through the next two innings, scoring a total of three runs on five hits. The score was 5-0 in favor of FPU after the top of the third inning.
Azusa Pacific answered in the bottom half of the frame. The Cougars began the inning with sophomore shortstop Andrew Carillo walking in five pitches. Junior center fielder Joseph Daris then singled to left field on the first pitch and sophomore left fielder Mitch Dergazarian grounded out to first base, advancing Daris to second and Carillo to third. Sophomore third baseman Daniel Martin walked to load the bases and after junior first baseman Jordan Brower grounded out, senior right fielder Matt Kimmel cleared the bases with a three-run triple to right center.
However, these were the only runs the Cougars scored all game.
Staumont, APU’s leader in strikeouts (45), struck out three batters in his five-inning start but did not strike out a batter until the top of the fourth. He threw a total of 103 pitches until he was given the hook and freshman pitcher Wyatt Wood took over on the mound. Five Cougar pitchers made appearances in the game.
APU did have opportunities on the offensive side of the ball, but had trouble capitalizing. The biggest chance of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning. After junior second baseman Blake James and Carillo struck out, the Cougars were down to their final out. They sparked a rally as Daris singled, junior second baseman Dusty Sanderson pinch hit for Dergazarian and worked a walk, and Martin singled to load the bases. Brower had the opportunity to do some damage, but hit a grounder to short that ended the game.
This win extends the Sunbirds’ winning streak to seven while the Cougars’ eight-game winning streak is now over. This is the first conference loss of the season for APU. The next game of the four-game weekend series will start at 3 p.m., Friday, March 14 at the Cougar Baseball Field.