CHICO, Calif.-Long balls provided the difference in two wildly different comebacks as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-3 overall) won 3-2 in 12 innings before falling 10-8 in 7 innings to split a double-header with the Chico State Wildcats (3-3 overall) Saturday at Nettleton Stadium.

Fresno Pacific erased eight innings of offensive silence by blasting two late home runs in an extra-inning pitchers duel before the 7-inning slugfest tilted towards the hosts in the final at-bat.

Fresno Pacific received a stellar start from Garrett Cooper in game one as Chico State was only able to tally a single run in the sixth inning.

While the Fresno Pacific offense was held quiet for the first eight innings, pinch hitter Jared Aguilar came off the bench with one out in the top of the ninth and deposited the first pitch he saw over the fence in left center field to tie the game.

The game stayed even at one until the top of the 12^th when Koutarou Matsumaru blasted one over the center field fence for a 2-1 lead.

The Sunbirds tacked on an insurance run when Tommy Rover walked and moved all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Valdez.

Miguel Ortiz delivered a sacrifice fly to provide the run. It proved invaluable when Chico State scored in the bottom of the inning, but Brady Crow held off the Wildcats from coming any closer to preserve the win.

The seven-inning game two was filled with much more offense from the beginning after the teams traded zeroes in the first.

Fresno Pacific scored six times in the second as Ortiz and Cole Yoshida singled to start the inning. After Jordan Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Matsumaru belted a grand slam to spark the offense.

Rover and Andrew Valdez reached base again, scoring on two-out hits by Ortiz and Yoshida to give FPU a six run lead.

But Chico State all but erased the deficit in the bottom of the inning, capitalizing on a pair of walks and an error to load the bases. A bases loaded walk forced in a run and
made Fresno Pacific go into the bullpen before a double and an infield single  pulled Chico State within one.

The Wildcats would tie the game in the third after an RBI single.

Fresno Pacific regained the lead in the fifth as the Wildcats returned the favor from the earlier free-bases.

Shane Pursell walked with the bases loaded to force in a run and Matsumaru legged out an infield single as the Sunbirds took an 8-6 lead.

Chico State's response came in the bottom of the 6^th. They got the leadoff man on before Zach Dennis induced a double-play.

But the next batter went deep over the left field fence to trim Fresno Pacific's lead to 8-7.

The Wildcats came back in the bottom of the 7^th, utilizing a leadoff single and a one-out double to tie the game. Chico State put the winning run 90 feet away before a two-run homer walked it off to split the double-header and conclude the series.

Fresno Pacific received a monster performance on the day from Matsumaru, who hit go-ahead homers in game one and the grand slam in game two while finishing the day with 6 RBI.

Brady Crow, who earned the win in game one, was saddled with the loss in game two.

Fresno Pacific will be back in action Monday when it travels to the Academy of Art for a non-conference game at 6 p.m. in Oakland.
 
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