Box Score Full Bracket & Schedule
Live Video Coverage
Live Stats
NCCAA Baseball Visitor Information

MASON, Ohio - #4 seed Fresno Pacific opened up the NCCAA World Series with an 8-5 victory over #5 Bluefield (Va.) on Wednesday before having its second game of the day rained out and moved to tomorrow morning after a tornado watch in the county.

The Sunbirds overcame a grueling travel schedule and inclement weather conditions to jump out to an early lead and put away the Rams for FPU's 18th win in its last 22 games.

"It's great to see our team respond once again to adversity," said head coach Oscar Hirschkorn, whose team traveled twice as far as the next furthest team in the field. "We faced a lot of challenges getting here but our guys maintained their focus. We talked about setting the tone right off the bat and winning game one. This was an important win for us."

The Rams struck first with back-to-back hits in the top of the first but FPU starter J.D. Salles responded by striking out the side to strand two runners. FPU's offense then came alive with three runs in the second, two in the third and three more in the fourth. The Sunbirds maintained an 8-2 lead for the majority of the game before the Rams tacked on runs late.

Salles finished with six innings of work, surrendering two runs and striking out four. Michael Rodrigues worked three innings of relief to earn the long save. Joshua Banuelos and Travis Beck led the Sunbirds with three hits apiece and Kaohu Gaspar added three RBI and a triple.

The Sunbirds take on #9 Shorter tomorrow at 11 am local time (8 am Pacific). Fans can watch a live broadcast at the link above for $6.95 or follow @fpusunbirds on Twitter for updates. The full revised schedule can be viewed by following the link at the top of the page.

*Final stats have not yet been received. A box score will be posted as soon as it is available.