FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team is set to open a four-game home stand against Western Oregon on Thursday morning at FPU Diamond. 
 
THIS WEEK
Games 5 & 6
vs. Western Oregon
Thursday, Feb. 9 • 11:00 a.m./2:30 p.m.
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.  
Stats • Audio

Games 7 & 8
vs. Western Oregon
Thursday, Feb. 9 • 11:00 a.m./2:30 p.m.
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif. 
Stats • Audio
 
SCHEDULE  
After this week, 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.
 
ABOUT THE SUNBIRDS (1-3)
The Sunbirds split a home doubleheader against Stanislaus State on Saturday before dropping both games the following afternoon on the road. FPU racked up 30 hits in the opening series but went just 8-for-38 with runners in scoring position. Centerfielder Baron Bower drove in five runs and recorded five hits on the weekend to lead the Blue and Orange offensively, while freshman Carson Schellenberg picked up the first win of the young season out of the FPU bullpen. Closer Matt Bergandi recorded two scoreless frames as one of five Sunbirds that didn't allow an earned run, and Tyler Rumbaugh struck out the first three opposing hitters of his collegiate career.   
 
ABOUT THE WOLVES (0-0)
WOU was picked second in the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
after earning one first place votes and 30 total points. Western Oregon returns a solid group of veterans, including the reigning GNAC Pitcher of the Year in junior right-hander Brady Miller. The Wolves are coming off a 30-20 season and an appearance in the title game of the GNAC Championships.
 
SERIES HISTORY: FPU VS WESTERN OREGON
FPU has never previously played any team currently in the GNAC. Since the beginning of the 2009 season, WOU has gone 3-5 against schools from the PacWest Conference.
 
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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