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Riverside, Calif. - Fresno Pacific failed to capitalize on two chances to win the NCCAA West Regional on Saturday as the #2-seeded Sunbirds saw their season come to an end with 6-2 and 12-5 losses at the hands of top-seed and PacWest rival California Baptist.

"We lost to a very good team today and our guys fought hard," said head coach Oscar Hirschkorn. "I'm proud of the way we competed, we just didn't come up with the big hits when we needed them. To be one win away from the World Series is really a credit to the character of this team."

The Sunbirds (32-22) entered the day without a loss in the double elimination tournament after knocking off the top-seeded Lancers 4-0 yesterday, but the Lancers (37-18) used a five-run sixth and a masterful pitching performance from ace Jon Bengard to win game one 6-2 and force a winner-take-all elimination game for the title.

After giving up two runs in the first inning of game two, the Sunbirds struck back in the bottom of the fourth after Steven Moon singled, stole a base and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Bobby Mendoza to make the score 2-1 CBU. The Sunbirds began to run out of pitching depth however in the final innings against the PacWest's top lineup.

The Lancers would score three runs in the fifth before exploding for a seven-run seventh inning to put the game out of reach. FPU used six pitchers, including ace starter J.D. Salles out of the pen on short rest, but the hits kept coming for CBU. Brett Bishop hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score more respectable as the Sunbirds fell 12-5.

Ryan Castadio gave the Sunbirds a quality start in game one, only giving up one run in five runs but the team was victimized by three costly errors. Robert Chambas totaled three hits on the day to lead the Sunbirds.

CBU advances to the NCCAA World Series in Ohio, while FPU only graduates five seniors and expects to have the bulk of its core players back for next season. Hirschkorn said that all-in-all, he was pleased with the team's first season of NCAA Division II and Pacific West Conference play.

"I'm proud of this 2013 Sunbird baseball team and the way they took us into D2 and the PacWest," he said. "We fought hard and improved all year and by the end of the season we were a pretty good team. I'm really thankful to our seniors that helped lay the foundation for this transition to Division II. I'm also really excited about the guys we have coming back and the recruiting class we're bringing in."

Chambas and Salles were named to the NCCAA All-West Region team.

It was the final game for seniors Moon, Castadio, Ryan Cheek, Matt Fox and Garrett Costa. The Sunbirds have a wealth of talent returning including Bishop, Chambas, Kaohu Gaspar, Steven Lozier and Kyle Coppom in the lineup, as well as ace starting pitchers Salles and Wilson Ashford. The team also expects to get back 2012 ace pitcher Josh Medeles, who suffered a season-ending injury early in the year.

FPU has now won 32 or more games in five of the last six seasons.

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