FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team will hit the road this weekend, taking on Sonoma State for the final weekend series of the non-conference schedule.
 
THIS WEEK
Games 7 & 8
@ Sonoma State
Saturday, Feb. 18 • 12:15/3:15 p.m.
Seawolf Diamond • Rohnert Park, Calif.
Stats
 
Games 9 & 10
@ Sonoma State
Sunday, Feb. 19 • 11:00 a.m./2:30 p.m.
Sypher Baseball Field • Santa Rosa, Calif.
Stats
 
SCHEDULE  
Fresno Pacific makes the journey to Riverside on March 2 to begin PacWest Conference play with defending league champion California Baptist, who ranks 14th in the most recent edition of the Collegiate Baseball poll. The next four games will feature the Sunbirds making the trip south to square off with long-time rival Azusa Pacific (March 9-11).
 
The Sunbirds' home conference opener comes against Concordia on March 24, as the two teams will play two twinbills in as many days. FPU then hosts 15th-ranked Dixie State the following weekend before taking part in a week-long road trip to the Aloha State for duels with Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific.
 
Academy of Art heads to the Valley for the first of four league games on April 20, with back-to-back doubleheaders against Holy Names set for the next weekend. The final series of the year for the Blue and Orange will also feature Point Loma, and FPU's Senior Day is set for May 9.
 
The NCAA Division II West Regional will begin on May 18, with the championship game scheduled for Monday, May 22. The site will be determined at the conclusion of the regular season. Grand Prairie, Texas will host the NCAA Championship for the first time, with Regional winners squaring off from May 27 – June 3.
 
To view the entire schedule for Fresno Pacific baseball, please click here. For a printable version, click here.
 
ABOUT THE SUNBIRDS (2-4)
The Sunbirds split a home doubleheader against Western Oregon on Feb. 9 before seeing the final two games of the series get cancelled due to unplayable field conditions. FPU fell in the opener 7-5 before bouncing back with a 7-0 victory in the nightcap to earn Trent Ashford's first career win. Baron Bower leads the team in hits (6), RBI (8), and steals (4) so far this season while hitting third in the lineup. Ashford has been FPU's best starter, allowing just two runs in 13.2 innings to date on the young season. Tyler Rumbaugh, Nic Garcia and Matt Bergandi have combined for 6.2 out of the Sunbird bullpen, and each has yet to allow a run to cross the plate.
 
ABOUT THE SEAWOLVES (2-0)
Since Sonoma State was predicted second in the North Division of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, the Seawolves have picked up wins over San Francisco State and Academy of Art. Center fielder Daniel Caresio has gone 3-for-6 through the first two games, but Bryce Nagata currently sits atop the team leaderboard in runs driven in. None of the 11 Seawolves that have thrown this year have gone longer than 2.2 innings in the early part of the season, and only one has given up a run.
 
SERIES HISTORY: FPU VS SONOMA STATE
The Sunbirds have won the last four meetings to claim a 4-2 record in the all-time series against the Seawolves. The two teams last squared off in Rohnert Park to open the 2015 season, when FPU came out on top by a final of 8-2. That is FPU's only road win in the series after dropping the first two in Rohnert Park in 2013.
 
HEAD COACH OSCAR HIRSCHKORN
Oscar Hirshckorn has been the head baseball coach at Fresno Pacific University since the program's inception in 2006. In 11 seasons at the helm, he's led the program to a 339-242-1 all-time record, seven regional postseason appearances, three World Series appearances (NAIA and NCCAA) and back-to-back World Series championships (2014-2015).
 
FPU baseball made its postseason debut in just its third season as a program (2008) with Hirschkorn being named conference coach of the year. Before joining the NCAA Division II, FPU qualified for four straight NAIA Championship Opening Round appearances from 2008-2011 and was ranked in the NAIA Top-25 for four consecutive years. In 2009, in just its fourth season, the Sunbirds reached the NAIA World Series, finishing fifth in the nation.
 
In 2014, Hirschkorn led the program to its first World Series title, being named NCCAA national coach of the year. He repeated both accolades in 2015. Prior to starting the FPU baseball program, Hirschkorn was an assistant coach at Reedley College and Caruthers High School and was a head coach at Sanger High School, where he inherited a team that had gone 4-23 the previous season. Three years later, he guided the squad to the school's first postseason appearance in 19 years.
 
Hirschkorn's playing career began at Kerman High School and took him to Reedley College, Cal Poly-SLO, and Chico State. Hirschkorn ranked among the top tier in the Northern California Athletic Conference in wins and was in the starting rotation on the school's first NCAA Division II National Championship team in 1997, a year in which the team compiled a 52-11 record. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1993 and again in 1994. 
 
Hirschkorn was named GSAC coach of the year and region coach of the year in 2008, and national coach of the year in 2014 and 2015. He holds his B.A. (1998) and M.A. (1999), both in Physical Education, from Chico State.

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