FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific baseball team swept Saturday's doubleheader with Azusa Pacific, forcing their sixth-straight series split. The offense rolled in game one in a 12-4 win, followed by a 7-3 victory in the seven-inning game two.
 
QUOTABLE
 
"It was great to see us play like a team today. We had great starting pitching in both games, and I thought we took good AB's throughout the day. Now we need to build on what we did today and be consistent with our energy." – head coach Oscar Hirschkorn
 
GAME ONE
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Sunbirds jumped out with two quick runs in the first inning when Khalid Johnson scored on a wild pitch, followed by Jared Aguilar scoring from third on an error by the APU third baseman.
• Justin Fuson was able to settle in on the mound after a shaky but scoreless first inning, holding the Cougars scoreless in a five and two-thirds innings outing.
• After three and a half scoreless frames, FPU added to their lead in the sixth with four more runs.
• Andrue Lackey was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and he reached second on an error by the third baseman, that also allowed Donte Valdez to reach first.
• Another error by the third baseman brough Lackey in to score and put runners at the corners with no outs.
• A single from Kyle Willman to left field brought in D. Valdez and Santos to make it 6-0, and after a double from Cole Yoshida, Aguilar was able to plate Willman with a sacrifice fly.
• The Cougars were able to score three runs in the top of the seventh to cut into the FPU lead, and after a scoreless bottom half from the Sunbirds, APU added one more in the eighth to make it 7-4.
• The bats came back alive for the Sunbirds in the eighth when Aguilar drove in Yoshida with a single to left field, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
• A single from Andrew Valdez allowed Johnson to score, and then with two outs, a bases-loaded double from Lackey plated Nolan Brown, A. Valdez and Aguilar to put the game out of reach.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME

• Johnson, Lackey, Yoshida and Matt McGrady each had a double in the win.
• Fuson struck out nine batters and gave up no runs in five and two-thirds innings on the mound.

 
GAME TWO
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scorelss first frame, the Sunbirds picked up right where they left off from the first game of the day, scoring three runs.
• It started with a double from McGrady, who was brought in by a double from Lackey.
• D. Valdez followed that with a double of his own to bring in Lackey.
• A sacrifice fly from Garrett Cooper brought in D. Valdez to conclude the three-run second inning.
• The Cougars were able to add one in the top of the third, but FPU got that run back in the bottom half after a McGrady single allowed A. Valdez to cross the plate, making it 4-1.
• In the bottom of the fourth, Willman hit his first home run of the season over the left-field wall to make it 5-1, and after two runs from APU in the top of the fifth, A. Valdez hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the innings, which also plated Garret Santos.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME

• Aguilar took the mound in the final game of the series and pitched the full seven innings, striking out seven and only walking one.
• Santos, A. Valdez, McGrady, Lackey and Willman all went 2-for-3 at the plate.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Blue and Orange will continue their homestand next weekend when they host Holy Names. Games one and two are scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Friday, with games three and four coming on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.
 
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