Sophomore pitcher Joel Belk held the Academy of Art to one run in the nightcap of Tuesday, March 18’s doubleheader and lead Azusa Pacific to a 2-1 win to complete the sweep against the Urban Knights. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
Sophomore pitchers Josh Staumont and Joel Belk each pitched one-run complete games to lead the Azusa Pacific baseball team to a sweep over the Academy of Art on Tuesday, March 18. The Cougars won 5-1 in game one and 2-1 in game two.
“I think pitching did a really good job and really gave us an opportunity to win two today,” Cougar head coach Paul Svagdis said. “To get complete games out of the two starters is always fabulous for your bullpen, especially when you have more games coming up during the week. Josh Staumont set the tone by giving us a good start throwing nine innings and that was followed up by Joel Belk.”
The Cougars’ offense went straight to work in game one and scored two runs in the first inning. Junior center fielder Joseph Daris hit a leadoff single and sophomore left fielder Mitch Dergazarian hit an RBI triple into center field. Senior right fielder Matt Kimmel then promptly singled to right field to make the game 2-0.
The Urban Knights’ lone run of game one came in the fifth inning. Senior catcher Chucky Cavestany was on third when junior designated hitter Maclane Brady reached base on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop, Cavestany scoring on the play.
In the sixth inning, APU put the game under wraps. With Kimmel on first, junior first baseman Jordan Brower singled to right field and the two runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Sophomore catcher Joe Huthsing reached base on a throwing error, which scored Kimmel from third. Senior designated hitter Dominec Biagini was hit by a pitch to load the bases and junior second baseman Blake James singled to short, scoring Brower and after a throwing error, putting in Huthsing as well.
Staumont struck out six, walked three and allowed five hits in his complete game win (5-2).
In the second game of the doubleheader, both teams registered four hits each in the seven-inning nightcap. Junior designated hitter Ryan Santana hit a two-out home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth, putting Azusa Pacific ahead 1-0.
The Urban Knights tied the game in the top of the sixth inning when senior shortstop Kolani Brackenridge led off the sixth inning with a double to left field. Brackenridge advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore second baseman Cody Edmunds and scored on sophomore center fielder Joseph Marchini’s game-tying single.
Two batters later, the Cougars intentionally walked the Urban Knights’ leader in RBIs, junior first baseman Daniel Skinner. Senior designated hitter Dante Redhead pinch-hit for Brady and hit a ball to sophomore shortstop Andrew Carillo, who committed a fielding error. This allowed all three runners to arrive at their bases safely and put Belk in a jam.
Belk quickly snuffed Academy of Art’s hopes for a big inning with a three-pitch strikeout against the pinch-hitter, senior utility player Ryan Ramirez.
“The inning could have gotten out of hand when the bases were loaded and they scored the one run, but Belk did a great job of buckling down, striking that last guy, and getting the third out,” Svagdis said.
In the bottom of the sixth, freshman left fielder Sean Aspinall pinch-hit for Dergazarian and walked. Kimmel walked in the following at-bat. Aspinall was caught stealing at third base, but Brower singled to right, bringing Kimmel to third. During Santana’s at-bat, Kimmel crossed the plate as the winning run on a wild pitch.
“The team responded well by doing a good job of getting our guys on base,” Svagdis said. “That’s what you really need to do. I am not sure we did a great job executing some base running plans, but at the end of the day, they did put pressure on Academy of Art by answering. To get that second run across at the bottom of the sixth obviously is a big deal when your pitcher is pitching well.”
After claiming both wins in the matchup, Azusa Pacific swept the four-game series against Academy of Art. The first doubleheader of the series took place Feb. 27, when the Cougars also swept, 9-1 and 18-1.
The Cougars improve their record to 10-2 in PacWest play (14-6 overall) as the Urban Knights fell to 1-7 (5-15 overall).