FRESNO, Calif. – This week, the Fresno Pacific University baseball team will host Holy Names University for back-to-back PacWest Conference doubleheaders, with the series set to begin on Friday afternoon. The Sunbirds will celebrate their ten seniors in between games on Saturday. 
 
ON DECK
Game 38/39 – PacWest Doubleheader
vs. Holy Names
Friday, April 28 • 2:00 p.m. (9 innings) / 5:00 p.m. (9 innings)
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Video    
 
Games 40/41 – PacWest Doubleheader, Senior Day
vs. Holy Names
Saturday, April 29 • 12:00 p.m. (9 innings) / 3:00 p.m. (7 innings)
FPU Diamond • Fresno, Calif.
Stats • Video    
 
SCHEDULE  
After this weekend, the Blue and Orange will welcome Point Loma on May 8-9 for back-to-back doubleheaders in the final series of the year.
 
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 (16-21, 13-15 PacWest)
Fresno Pacific is coming off a series loss against Academy of Art last weekend, dropping the final three games after winning Thursday's opener. At the plate, leadoff man Michael Warkentin went 9-for-19 at the dish while picking up his first career home run and making a game-saving catch in left field.
 
Warkentin's .358 average leads the Sunbirds this season, while centerfielder Baron Bower is tops on the club with 27 RBI. Hunter Villanueva has reached base in 13 consecutive games, tied for the third-longest streak on the team this year.
 
On the mound, Trent Ashford has picked up a team-best 33 strikeouts, and closer Matt Bergandi has held opponents to a .239 average. Despite taking the loss in extra innings on Saturday, reliever Zach Fleeman has allowed just two runs over his last three outings.   
 
ABOUT THE HAWKS (13-32, 10-22 PacWest)
After splitting a league series with Concordia last weekend, Holy Names dropped a road midweek game on Tuesday, falling 4-3 against Sononma State. Chris Gnos leads the team with a .313 average to date, and he is the only Hawk hitter above .300 for the year.
 
Aiden McIntyre has posted a team-high 47 strikeouts over 74 innings of work, though the Hawk pitching staff has struggled to a 6.42 earned run average. He pitched his way to a win on Saturday after scattering four hits and a single unearned run en route to a complete game against the Eagles.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: FPU VS HOLY NAMES
The Sunbirds claim a 15-1 record in the all-time series, with the lone loss coming in Hayward in 2013. FPU has swept three consecutive four-game series since, including last season, when they outscored the Hawks 44-20 in Oakland.  
    
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.