FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team is set to open the 2017 season this weekend, hosting Stanislaus State on Saturday before making the return trip to Turlock the following morning.
 
THIS WEEK
Games 1 & 2
vs. Stanislaus State
Saturday, Feb. 4 • 2:00 p.m.
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats

Games 3 & 4
@ Stanislaus State
Sunday, Feb. 5 • 10:00 a.m.
Warrior Baseball Field • Turlock, Calif.
Stats • Video • Audio • Tickets
 
SCHEDULE  
On Tuesday, FPU welcomes Cal State Monterey Bay for a single game that evening before hosting Western Oregon for four games from Feb. 9-11. A five-game road trip featuring visits to Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule toward the end of February.
 
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. 
 
PACWEST PRESEASON POLL
The Sunbirds were picked fifth in the poll after a 15-20 finish in league play last season. Defending champion California Baptist received 91 points and five of ten first-place votes, followed by Dixie State with 90 points and three votes. Azusa Pacific and Point Loma round out the top four, each receiving a first-place vote.
 
Individually, senior outfielder Baron Bower was named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team after finishing his junior campaign as an All-Conference selection. The Fresno native started 47 games that season, clipping .347 with five home runs while swiping 13 bags to become the program's all-time leader in that category.
 
Bower also claimed the team lead in on-base percentage, reaching safely in 34 consecutive games. Additionally, Bower was a West Region Gold Glove nominee after playing the whole season without committing an error.
 
To view the complete PacWest Preseason Poll or the Preseason All-League Team in its entirety, please click here. 
 
SUNBIRD PERSONNEL
The infield should be a strong suit for the Sunbirds as Joey Gallegos (first base), McKay France (second base), Tristen Alvarez (shortstop) and Hunter Villanueva (third base) each played 40 games last spring. Bower will likely man centerfield, while Derek Arkelian, the team's leading returner in batting average from a season ago, will start the season in one of the corner positions.
 
Transfer catcher Braden Frankfort will battle incumbent backstop Bryan Bucher for playing time, while Trent Ashford will look to be a difference maker in the FPU rotation after redshirting last season. Josh Acosta and Nic Garcia combined for 20 appearances last season and will help anchor the Sunbird pitching staff this year.
 
HEAD COACH OSCAR HIRSCHKORN
Oscar Hirschkorn 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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