FRESNO, Calif. – This week, the Fresno Pacific University baseball team welcomes Academy of Art for a four-game series at FPU Diamond. The series is set to begin on Thursday evening and wrap up on Saturday afternoon.
 
ON DECK
Game 34 – PacWest Game
vs. Academy of Art
Thursday, April 20 • 6:00 p.m. (9 innings)
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Video    
 
Games 35/36 – PacWest Doubleheader
vs. Academy of Art
Friday, April 21 • 2:00 p.m. (9 innings) / 5:00 p.m. (7 innings)
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Video    
 
Game 37 – PacWest Game
vs. Academy of Art
Saturday, April 22 • 12:00 p.m. (9 innings)
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Video    
 
SCHEDULE  
After this weekend, the Hawks of Holy Names University will head to the Valley for back-to-back doubleheaders on April 28-29. 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 (15-18, 12-12 PacWest)
Fresno Pacific is coming off back-to-back series splits in the Aloha State, going 2-2 against Hawai'i Hilo before posting the same record against Hawai'i Pacific later in the week. The Sunbirds put up 21 runs in Saturday's doubleheader, matching their highest single day total of the season while picking up the first sweep of a twin bill.
 
Leadoff man Michael Warkentin continues to lead the team in hitting with a .337 clip for the season, though outfielder Eddie Sievers (.358) has taken over the top spot against conference opponents. Freshmen Nic Boatman and Tyler Rumbaugh each tossed a complete game last week to help lift a banged up pitching staff, and Zach Fleeman has now surrendered just one run over his last three outings.
 
ABOUT THE URBAN KNIGHTS (16-25, 12-15 PacWest)
Art U snapped a five-game losing skid last weekend, taking three of four from Holy Names on the road. In those three wins, the Urban Knights outscored the Hawks by a total of 20-5, though HNU's lone win saw them erupt for a 17-0 rout.
 
Junior Izac Bauer is the only Urban Knight to hit .300 or better to this point in the season, and he also claims a team-best 21 runs scored, 42 base hits, three home runs, and 21 RBI. On the mound, reliever Jacob Green has been one of the best in the league, pitching to a 2.30 earned run average over 17 appearances.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: FPU VS ART U
The Sunbirds claim an 18-2 record in the all-time series, including a perfect 9-0 record at FPU Diamond. After a shortened series last spring, the Urban Knights came away with a 2-1 series win in San Francisco after defeating FPU on back-to-back days.
   
PACWEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Sunbirds currently sit in sixth in the PacWest Conference standings, while the Urban Knights are right behind them at seventh. The standings are based solely on win percentage in league games.
 
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.