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Riverside, Calif. -
Box Score

Fresno Pacific took a 6-3 lead into the 7th inning in the first round of the GSAC Tournament vs. Concordia but the Eagles would tee off on the Sunbirds' bullpen for nine runs that inning to drop FPU 14-7 and send the Sunbirds into the loser's bracket of the double elimination tournament.

The Sunbirds, who face Azusa Pacific at noon tomorrow, had scored three runs in the bottom of the 6th to break a 3-3 tie.

FPU starter Jesse Darrah left the game with a 6-3 lead as he'd already thrown more than 100 pitches in six innings of work. The Sunbird ace worked his way in and out of trouble, giving up eight hits but striking out five and stranding nine Eagle baserunners.

The wheels came off in the top of the 7th though as the Sunbirds went through four relievers and couldn't stop the Eagles from putting up a 9-spot on the scoreboard. The inning was a complete and utter nightmare as the Sunbirds surrendered seven walks, four hits, two wild pitches, two passed balls and one error.

On the bright side, the Sunbirds were swinging the bat well and seemed to respond every time the Eagles threatened early on in the game. Karlan Andrews hit a game-tying home run in the 3rd and Alec Mehrten came through with RBI singles in both the 4th and 6th innings.

Mehrten's single, after a leadoff triple by Andrew Douglas gave the team a 4-3 lead. Trent Soares would follow later in the inning with a two-RBI single that made it 6-3. Mehrten finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Soares had two hits and drove in three. Andrews and Douglas each had two-hit days as well.

The Eagles decided to start Dean Persinger rather than ace Blake Harrison and the move paid off, despite FPU's 11 hits off the Eagle righty, as he struck out 10 in seven innings of work. Persinger was charged with just four earned runs of the seven he surrendered and walked none in the win.

FPU missed out on a golden opportunity to move into the winner's bracket with Biola, who defeated Point Loma Nazarene 5-3 earlier in the day, after top-seed Cal Baptist and GSAC pitcher of the year Taylor Siemens got shellacked by 6-seed Azusa Pacific 15-7.

The Sunbirds will try to stave off elimination against those same APU bats tomorrow at noon. FPU won the season series with the Cougars, taking three of four. Tyler Pryor has been a particular thorn in the Cougars' side, batting well over .500 in his career vs. APU.


Schedule/Results (GSAC seed)
Tuesday
Game 1: #6 Azusa Pacific 15, #1 Cal Baptist 7 - Final Score
Game 2: #2 Biola 5,  #5 Point Loma Nazarene 3 - Final Score
Game 3: #4 Concordia 14, #3 Fresno Pacific 7 - Final Score

Wednesday
Game 4 - Cal Baptist vs. Point Loma Nazarene, 9 am (elimination game)
Game 5 - Azusa Pacific vs. Fresno Pacific, 12 pm
Game 6 - Biola vs. Concordia, 3 pm