FRESNO, Calif.- Excellent pitching and a surging offense netted the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (10-12 overall, 4-3 PacWest) a doubleheader sweep and a series victory over the Academy of Art Urban Knight (10-12 overall, 3-5 PacWest) Saturday afternoon at the FPU Diamond.
 
Jared Aguilar's stellar start gave Fresno Pacific the depth they needed on the mound and backed himself up with a 3-4 game at the plate in an 8-4 game one victory.
 
Derek McNary's first collegiate start saw the freshman record 20 of the 21 outs needed while Shane Pursell backed him up with a three run double as FPU took the series with a 4-1 win.
 
Aguilar started the day strong and traded zeroes in the first two innings with ART U's Koh Maeda.
 
But ART U broke through in the third after a leadoff double started the inning. FPU seemed to alleviate some pressure when they fielded the bunt and threw to third but no tag was applied and the Urban Knights had runners on the corners. A single and an eventual sacrifice fly gave the Academy of Art a 2-0 lead.
 
Fresno Pacific responded immediately in the bottom of the inning with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with two outs.
 
Miguel Ortiz ripped a single right over the third basemen's head and into left field, tying the game at two.
 
ART U regained the lead in the top of the fifth after a pair of doubles.
 
Aguilar delivered his own response in the bottom of the inning, blasting the first pitch of the frame over the left field fence to tie the game at three.
 
Aguilar was equally demonstrative on the mound in the sixth, striking out two more, bringing his total to eight on the day while retiring ART U in order and getting FPU back up to the plate.
 
The Sunbirds responded as Chris Clement singled through the left side to leadoff the sixth and Isaiah Clark singled right after him.
 
Jordan Smith attempted a sacrifice bunt but ART U couldn't get an out, loading the basses with no outs.
 
But the ART U defense recovered, turning a double-play and preventing a run.
 
That would only be momentarily as Koutarou Matsumaru smashed a double down the left field line to give FPU its first lead of the game.
 
Gino Helmuth came on in relief with a scoreless 7^th inning.
 
That gave the Sunbirds a chance to add three more runs in the bottom of the 7^th.
 
Clement drove in Tommy Rover with a two-out single after a key stolen base triggered a bigger inning.
 
Clark walked and Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
After an eight pitch battle, Garrett Cooper grounded a ball up the middle and beat out the throw to first with a headfirst dive and ended up driving in two runs to extend the lead to five runs.
 
ART U would get a run back in the top of the 8^th, but Helmuth finished off the three-inning save to secure at least a split of the series.
 
The 'Birds would earn the series victory but fell behind first.
 
McNary's first collegiate start saw the freshman work around a single in the first, striking out the final two batters of the inning.
 
After a clean second inning, two singles and an error loaded the bases when a passed ball brought home an unearned run for ART U.
 
Jared Aguilar made a stellar defensive play on a short hop grounder to first, throwing home to nab the second out of the inning before McNary induced a fly out to end the threat.
 
McNary also cruised through the fourth to get FPU back to the plate.
 
That was enough momentum for the offense as Andrew Valdez, Tommy Rover, and Ortiz all reached to load the bases and Clement walked to force home the tying run.
 
After two strikeouts, Shane Pursell roped a double down the left field line, hooking it just inside the third base bag, to score all three runners.
 
That would be more than enough for McNary, who retired the next six hitter he faced.
 
The freshman ran into some trouble in the 7^th, hitting a batter and issuing a walk with two outs before turning the ball over to Riley Creech for the final out of the game, a strikeout.
 
Fresno Pacific nabs a much needed series victory and builds momentum heading into a road series at conference leading Azusa Pacific next weekend.
 
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