RIVERSIDE, Calif.  – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team began PacWest Conference play on Thursday evening, but 25th-ranked California Baptist came away with a 13-3 victory in the series opener.
 
FPU got on the scoreboard first, as Michael Warkentin and Eddie Sievers each came in to score before a quick hook chased CBU starter Justin Montgomery. Right hander Travis Booth entered the game with a Sunbird at every base and only one out, but consecutive strikeouts got him out of the inning without surrendering further damage.
 
The Lancer offense responded quickly, as two runs crossed the plate in the home half to tie the game at 2-2. Back-to-back two-RBI hits from D.J. Porter and John Glenn put CBU in the driver's seat in the second inning, and the Lancers didn't look back.
 
Baron Bower singled home a run just before the seventh inning stretch, but CBU again answered with a four-run eighth inning. Booth pitched into the ninth, allowing just four hits and a single unearned run while striking out seven Sunbird hitters en route to his first win of the year.
 
Trent Ashford took the loss for Fresno Pacific after starting the team's first game in 11 days. Fleeman turned in the longest performance of his career (5.2 innings) before turning the ball over to Tanner Irwin for the final out.
 
Offensively, Sievers recorded the first multi-hit game of his young career while joining fellow newcomers Warkentin and Travis Anderson as Sunbirds with three hits in a game this spring. Glenn and leadoff man Tyler Johnson combined for six Lancer hits, and Porter drove in four runs for the second time.
 
The Sunbirds and Lancers return to action on Friday, when they are set for a twin bill from Totman Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.