Junior first baseman Jordan Brower smashed a ball to right center and watched it sail over the fence to get the Cougars’ on the board in their 5-3 win on Friday, March 14. Photo credit: Steven Mercado
The Azusa Pacific men’s baseball team faced an 3-0 hole after a sloppy third inning that allowed Fresno Pacific three runs. Unlike the series opener, the Cougars answered the Sunbirds with consistent offensive production for the remainder of the game, beating them 5-3 on Friday, March 14.
Junior first baseman Jordan Brower was at it again, going three-for-three on the day and reaching base in every at-bat. He got the Cougars’ offense going in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to right center that he stood and watched sail for a few seconds before trotting around the pads to make the score 3-1 in favor of FPU.
The Cougars tied the game with a two-run sixth inning. Brower started it with a walk and senior right fielder Matt Kimmel followed with a single to left field. With two men on, senior designated hitter Dominec Biagini smacked a double into right center on the first pitch to score Brower. A groundout from junior second baseman Blake James brought Kimmel home to tie the game, 3-3.
In the seventh inning, Azusa Pacific looked to be going down in order after junior center fielder Joseph Daris struck out on three pitches and sophomore left fielder Mitch Dergazarian grounded out to the shortstop. Next up was junior third baseman Dusty Sanderson, who pinch hit for sophomore third baseman Daniel Martin after he hurt his shoulder on a head-first dive into second earlier in the game. Sanderson singled to center field, advanced to second on a passed ball and took third on a wild pitch. Brower then singled to left field, scoring Sanderson for the go-ahead run.
Cougars’ sophomore catcher Joe Huthsing cashed in an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when he homered to left field, making the score 5-3.
“They grinded it out. I’ll be honest … after the fourth inning, I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to want to see how these guys respond, especially after last night.’ We went down fast and we weren’t playing catch very well [last night], but we gave them a few runs [today] and I sat back and thought this is actually going to be a good moment for us to see what kind of group we have,” Cougas head coach Paul Svagdis said. “Can they overcome adversity? Are they going to keep letting that [adversity] snowball into a tough day or are they going to pull it back together and play the way they’re capable of? They did a great job.”
Sophomore pitcher Joel Belk got the start for the Cougars. He pitched five innings, allowed two hits and a walk and threw three strikeouts. Belk gave up three runs in the third inning, but none of them came from base hits, two due to throwing errors. The pitching staff stayed strong and allowed only one hit throughout the last six innings.
Junior relief pitcher Josh Grajeda came in for Belk in the sixth inning and pitched the sixth and seventh, only allowing one hit and striking out two. Grajeda’s solid performance earned him the win, his first of the season.
Junior pitcher Luis Martinez came in for Grajeda in the eighth inning. Martinez finished the game and shut down the Sunbirds, retiring both innings in order and not allowing anyone to reach base. His performance earned him his team-high third save of the season.
With the win, Azusa Pacific breaks Fresno Pacific’s winning streak at seven and improves to a 7-1 conference record (11-5 overall) while FPU falls to 5-5 in the PacWest (13-8 overall). The two teams will finish the series with a doubleheader Saturday, March 15. The first game will begin at 12 p.m. and the second will begin at approximately 3 p.m., both taking place at the Cougar Baseball Field.