Junior pitcher Zach Hedges threw a complete game in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday, March 15. He held Fresno Pacific to two runs on five hits. Courtesy: Holly Magnuson
Entering Saturday’s doubleheader with an even 1-1 series, the Azusa Pacific baseball team and Fresno Pacific split the final two games, ending the four-game weekend series in a 2-2 split on March 15. The Cougars won game one 7-2 and the Sunbirds won the second game 7-1.
Leading the Cougars on offense in game one was senior right fielder Matt Kimmel. He went three-for-four with two RBIs and a run scored. Junior pitcher Zach Hedges led the Cougars on the mound with a complete game, allowing two runs and five hits while striking out six.
Just as they did in the previous two games of the series, the Sunbirds got on the board first in the top of the second inning. Freshman left fielder Hunter Villanueva started the inning with a single and junior designated hitter John Koretoff hit a double into left center to score Villanueva from second.
The next inning, senior right fielder Kaohu Gaspar singled down the left field line with two outs and Villanueva followed with a single up the middle. Junior shortstop Michael Tittle hit a ball to sophomore shortstop Andrew Carillo and the ball was mishandled, allowing Tittle to reach first and Gaspar to score. The score after three innings was 2-0 in favor of the Sunbirds.
Hedges shut Fresno Pacific’s offense down through the remainder of the game, only allowing one hit after the first three innings.
The Cougars got their offense going in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore catcher Joe Huthsing walked with one out and junior second baseman Blake James hit a ball to Tittle at short, who committed a throwing error that allowed Huthsing to reach third. A double by freshman left fielder Sean Aspinall down the left field line brought Huthsing home for their first run of the game. Sophomore designated hitter Cam Bennett then grounded out to the shortstop, scoring James from third. This two-run inning tied the game, 2-2.
The seventh inning was the biggest inning of the day for the Cougars. Junior center fielder Joseph Daris singled to left center and an error by Villanueva allowed Daris to reach third. Junior third baseman Dusty Sanderson singled to left to bring Daris home, giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead. Kimmel followed with a two-run homer to left center.
The final two runs the Cougars scored in the game were in the eighth inning. Junior first baseman Jordan Brower hit a ball to second base that scored Carillo and a wild pitch scored Daris.
Game two of the doubleheader was quite the opposite for the Cougars. They only scored one run off six hits in the seven-inning nightcap. No APU player had more than one hit in the game.
Fresno Pacific junior pitcher Wilson Ashford picked up the win. He pitched the full seven innings, had four strikeouts and only one walk. Azusa Pacific junior pitcher Adam McCreery suffered his first loss of the season. He started for the Cougars and pitched six of the seven innings, allowed three runs and seven hits, had five strikeouts and two walks.
After McCreery gave up a single to freshman second baseman McKay France to start the top of the seventh, junior pitcher Jacob Cage came in replace him. However, Cage ended up allowing four runs and four hits on 31 pitches, putting the game far out of reach.
Cage hit the first batter he faced and proceeded to give up a single to junior third baseman Michael Hostetler and a double to junior first baseman Joshua Banuelos, resulting in three RBIs for the Sunbirds. Villanueva hit an RBI double and for the final run of the game, Koretoff hit an RBI single.
The 7-1 loss in the nightcap tops the most runs the Cougars have allowed in a game this season, previously set by the Sunbirds on Thursday, March 13.
After the 2-2 series split, Azusa Pacific now has a 12-6 overall record with a 8-2 Pacific West Conference record while Fresno Pacific now has a 14-10 overall record and a 6-6 record in the PacWest. The only two conference losses for the Cougars came this weekend against the Sunbirds. The next matchup for the Cougars is a doubleheader Tuesday, March 18 against the Academy of Art (5-13, 1-5). The doubleheader is set to start at 2 p.m. at the Cougar Baseball Field.