FRESNO, Calif.  – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team defeated Concordia 4-3 on Saturday afternoon before dropping the nightcap by a final of 12-3. The Sunbirds finished the weekend with two wins in four games, marking their second consecutive PacWest Conference series split.

"I liked that we showed fight throughout this series, and we did a good job improving on offense," head coach Oscar Hirschkorn said. "We have to attack the strike zone more moving forward, and if we do that, we are going to be more successful."

The Sunbirds started the scoring in the second inning on Saturday, plating a run on a fielder's choice before the Eagles tied the game in the following frame. Three Concordia hits turned into a two-run third inning to give the visitors a 3-1 lead, but FPU was able to spark another late rally.

Hunter Villanueva launched his first home run of the season in the home seventh before a Baron Bower single scored Eddie Sievers from second an inning later to tie the game at 3-3. McKay France lined a shot off the glove of Concordia closer Carpenter Paggett to give the Sunbirds a two-out baserunner, and Friday night walk-off hero Tristen Alvarez entered the box with a chance to plate the game-winning run.

Alvarez fouled off a pair of pitches before working the count full, and the payoff pitch resulted in a high popup to shallow left center. The Eagles, however, had shaded the defense over toward right field, allowing the ball to drop in for Alvarez' second walk-off hit in as many days.

Sunbird righthander Josue Mendivil turned in his second consecutive lengthy start, tossing seven innings while tallying a career-high nine strikeouts. A sophomore from Visalia, Calif. Mendivil's last two outings have featured a total of 15 innings, 17 strikeouts, just three walks, 245 pitches, and 164 strikes. 

Carson Schellenberg was the first man out of the FPU bullpen, picking up five outs before turning it over to closer Matt Bergandi. The latter tossed just eight pitches but earned his second victory of the series after overcoming a hit to finish off the top of the ninth.

For the Eagles, starter Mike Killeen provided a strong eight innings, scattering three Sunbird runs without issuing a walk. Alvarez' double was his first hit of the game, and Paggett was saddled with his first loss of the year.

Offensively, Sievers, Braden Frankfort and Baron Bower each sparked two hits for the home nine, while four different players were credited with an RBI. Hunter Holland and Dillon Millar combined for four of Concordia's seven hits, the team's lowest hit total of the series.

The series finale saw the Sunbirds take an early lead before the Eagles scratched across a run in the third and another an inning later. The fifth inning got away from the Blue and Orange, as Concordia took advantage of a bevy of pitching mistakes to score six runs.

FPU managed a run in the bottom of the frame, but Concordia added four more runs before the game's final pitch. The Sunbirds' final tally came in the home eighth, but the Eagles were able to salvage the second doubleheader split of the weekend.

The Blue and Orange managed eight hits for the finale, including two each from Sievers, Bower, and Villanueva. Nic Boatman took the loss as the first of seven Sunbirds arms for the day after allowing two earned runs through 3.1 innings of work.

Fresno Pacific is set to return to action next week, when they host Dixie State for another four-game PacWest series. First pitch of the series opener is slated for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday at FPU Diamond.  

"It will be another challenge against another great team. If we all go out and do our jobs with excellence as individuals, that should turn into a good thing for our team," Hirschkorn said. "We are usually very solid defensively, and if we can pitch and hit the way we know we can, we believe we can beat anybody in
our league."