Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Game 1 - Fresno Pacific 7, California Baptist 1 (7 innings)
Game 2 - California Baptist 5, Fresno Pacific 3 (7 innings)

Riverside, Calif. - Fresno Pacific handed Cal Baptist its first PacWest loss of the season in game one and despite dropping three of four in the series, the Sunbirds had plenty of positives to take from a back-and-forth series with the defending league champs.

"It was a hard fought series between two very good teams and for anyone that's a fan of college baseball it was a great series to watch," said head coach Oscar Hirschkorn. "Unfortunately we made a couple more mistakes than they did throughout the series but I'm proud of the way our guys battled. Every game was up for grabs and could have gone either way."

The Sunbirds (12-9, 7-5 PacWest) scored seven unanswered runs in game one, giving support to a pitching gem by Wilson Ashford who went all seven innings, striking out six for the win. Steven Lozier went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Steven Moon collected two hits as well in the victory.

"Wilson Ashford was huge for us," said Hirschkorn. "To pitch like he did with our backs against the wall having dropped two already, that really set the tone and it came against possibly the best lineup we're going to see all year."

CBU starter Caleb Dirks was cruising with a one-hitter after four innings, but the Sunbirds would get to him in the fifth after a two-out rally that began when Baron Bower struck out but beat out the throw from the catcher to first after the ball got away. Devin Lee drew a walk and Lozier singled in FPU's first run to tie it 1-1. After Brett Bishop drew a walk, both Lozier and Lee came around to score after the catcher threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt.

That would be all the offense Ashford would need but FPU tacked on three more in the seventh for good measure. Moon and Bower started off the inning with back-to-back singles before Lee reached on an error to load the bases. Lozier delivered another key hit with a single to center and Bishop followed with a single through the left side that scored two more. Kyle Coppom then crushed a double to left to make it 7-1.

The Lancers (14-8, 7-1 PacWest) came back to win the second game, scoring one run apiece in five consecutive innings. Bower tied the game up with a solo blast to left in the top of the 5th that made it 3-3, but CBU's Zach Esquerra answered with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to give the Lancers the lead for good.

Bower finished 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead FPU. Mitchell Scott took the loss, giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. CBU's Adam Hofacket went the distance in the win.

Bishop totaled three hits on the day for the Sunbirds, joining Lozier and Bower. As a whole the Sunbird offense had a very strong series, with Hirschkorn saying they left Riverside a better team than when they arrived.

"We really hit the ball well all series long," he said. "We hit a lot of balls hard right at people. We put together a lot of quality at-bats, we were tough with two strikes. I can't be critical after this weekend. Some guys really elevated their game."

The Sunbirds face non-conference opponent Cal State Los Angeles next Friday and Saturday on the road.