FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific baseball team begins a month-long stretch of home games this week, hosting second-ranked Azusa Pacific in a four-game PacWest Conference series.
 
SCHEDULE
Series 4 – vs. #2 Azusa Pacific

Thursday, March 8 • 2:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. 
Fresno, Calif. • FPU Diamond
Live Stats • Audio
 
Friday, March 9 • 6:00 p.m.
Fresno, Calif. • FPU Diamond
Live Stats • Audio
 
Saturday, March 10 • 12:00 p.m.
Fresno, Calif. • FPU Diamond
Live Stats • Audio
 
About Fresno Pacific (6-4, 3-1 PacWest)
• The Sunbirds opened PacWest Conference play two weekends ago, taking the first three against Academy of Art in Oakland before dropping the series finale by a score of 3-2.  
• FPU's four-man starting rotation turned in consistent strong performances against the Urban Knights, combining for 27 strikeouts and just six earned runs over 29.1 innings of work.
• The bats have shown up game after game for the Blue and Orange, as the 'Birds have racked up at least ten hits in six games so far this spring. They are 5-1 in those contests.
• Fresno Pacific's final win in the ARTU series extended the team's winning streak to five games, their longest in almost two seasons.
 
Sunbird Leaderboard
• Batting average: Adam Aleman, .409
• RBI: Hunter Villanueva, 13
• Steals: Michael Warkentin, 3
• Doubles: Nate Case, 5
• Triples: Derek Arkelian, 2
• Home runs: Hunter Villanueva, 6  
• Wins: two players tied, 2
• ERA: two players tied, 0.00
• Strikeouts: two players tied, 22
 
About Azusa Pacific (17-1, 7-1 PacWest)
• The Cougars opened the season with a 17-game winning streak before dropping the series opener by a final of 14-3 against Dixie State last weekend. APU answered by taking each of the next three contests to win the series 3-1.
• Junior infielder Austin Russ was named the PacWest Player of the Week after going 8-for-11 at the dish and driving in ten runs against the Trailblazers.
• In typical APU fashion, the offense has packed a punch to this point in the season. The Cougars lead the nation with 31 homers as a team and rank ninth nationally in runs scored.
•  Russ is now tied with teammate and PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Pablo O'Connor for a team-leading .412 average, while the Cougars are hitting .293 as a unit.
 
Cougar Leaderboard
• Batting average: two players tied, .412
• RBI: Sean Aspinall, 20
• Steals: Nick Estrella, 3
• Doubles: two players tied, 6
• Triples: Osvaldo Tovalin, 2
• Home runs: Sean Aspinall, 6
• Wins: Isaiah Carranza, 5
• ERA: Nick Estrella, 1.80
• Strikeouts: Isaiah Carranza, 38
 
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