FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team will play five games this week, hosting Cal State Monterey Bay on Tuesday before traveling south for a four-game PacWest Conference series against fifth-ranked Azusa Pacific.
 
THIS WEEK
Game 12
vs. CSUMB
Tuesday, March 7 • 5:00 p.m.
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Audio
 
Games 13-16: PacWest Series
@ #5 Azusa Pacific
Thursday, March 9 • 6:00 p.m.
APU Baseball Field • Azusa, Calif.
Stats
 
@ #5 Azusa Pacific
Friday, March 10 • 3:00 p.m. (9 innings)/6:00 p.m. (7 innings)
APU Baseball Field • Azusa, Calif.
Stats
 
@ #5 Azusa Pacific
Saturday, March 11 • 12:00 p.m.
APU Baseball Field • Azusa, Calif.
Stats
 
SCHEDULE  
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 (3-8, 1-3 PacWest)
Fresno Pacific gave #25 California Baptist all they could handle last weekend but ultimately dropped three of four in the first conference series of the season. Braden Frankfort and Eddie Sievers combined to go 14-for-26 with six runs and eight RBI to lead the Sunbird offense, with Frankfort hitting the team's first home run of the year in Saturday's series finale. Frankfort's .345 batting average is now tops on the team, while centerfielder Baron Bower remains atop the Sunbird leaderboard with eight RBI.
 
The FPU pitching staff struggled for the bulk of the weekend, surrendering nearly eight runs per game. Nic Garcia and Carson Schellenberg were a couple of bright spots after teaming up for three innings of relief work without allowing a run. Schellenberg, a freshman from Reedley, Calif., dropped his season ERA to 0.93, while Tyler Rumbaugh and Jonathan Molina have each racked up nine strikeouts on the hill.
 
ABOUT THE OTTERS (11-6, 4-3 CCAA)
CSUMB took the first two games against CCAA North Division opponent Cal State San Marcos on Saturday before falling 7-1 in Sunday's series finale. Max Sanderson saw a nine-game hitting streak come to a close in that game but still leads the team with an impressive .382 clip for the season. Hayden Duer's 21 RBI rank best among a group that features six .300 or better hitters and four players with 10+ RBI.
 
The Otters have been perhaps even more stellar on the mound this spring, as 11 different players currently claim a sub-2.00 ERA. In the team's only stand-alone game of the year, Ryan Arambula received the start and delivered two strong innings before giving way to the bullpen in a 6-3 win over Holy Names.    
 
SERIES HISTORY: FPU VS CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY
The Sunbirds and Otters have pushed Tuesday's game back twice already due to rain, and this game marks FPU's final scheduled non-conference game of the year. Entering Tuesday, CSUMB claims an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series, including a three-game winning streak dating back to 2014. FPU's lone win at their home facility came on February 7, 2012.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS (13-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Since falling to CSUMB on the road in the second game of the year, the Cougars have rattled off a dozen straight wins to claim the best win percentage (.929) in the West Region and jump to fifth in the latest Collegiate Baseball Poll. APU outscored opponents 30-9 over three games at the Tucson Invitational, defeating Concordia-St. Paul, Malone, and #14 St. Cloud State along the way.
 
Pablo O'Connor has led the Cougars offensively, hitting .393 with a conference-best seven home runs so far this spring. Mychael Goudreau has stroked .448 over his seven-game hitting streak, driving in seven runs and leaving the yard twice in that span. The APU staff has pitched to a 3.01 team ERA, while relievers Nick Estrella, Hayden Jorgensen, and Mitch Williams have yet to surrender an earned run.  
 
SERIES HISTORY: FPU VS AZUSA PACIFIC
Entering Thursday's series opener, the Sunbirds claim a 27-26 all-time record against the Cougars, including a 14-13 mark on the road. APU had taken five of the last seven however and three of the last four in Azusa.
 
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, 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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SHOP FPU
The Fresno Pacific Department of Athletics is proud to announce the opening of a Team Store that can be accessed on ShopFPU.com. Fans and students can now purchase apparel for all 14 athletic teams, along with numerous other items, throughout the 2017 season.