FRESNO, Calif.- All of the team strengths were on full display as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (13-15 overall, 7-6 PacWest) swept the series opening double-header from the Hawai'i Pacific Sharks (10-17 overall, 6-11 PacWest) Friday evening at the FPU Diamond.
 
Garrett Cooper's 8 inning gem setup Fresno Pacific for an 8-3 win in game one while the offense overcame two deficits by scoring in every turn at the plate of a 15-7 win in the 7-inning game two.
 
The Sunbirds immediately set the tone in the bottom of the first after Cooper tossed a scoreless first inning.
 
Jared Aguilar's RBI triple and Andrew Valdez roped a run-scoring double ahead of a two-out single by Chris Clement for the third run of the inning.
 
HPU tallied its only run against Cooper with a two-out rally in the second, but the ace took things over from there.
 
Cooper mystified the Sharks' lineup by stringing together six consecutive zeroes and working over 100 pitches through the 8^th inning.
 
The PacWest leader in strikeouts added 9 more to his total, raising his season total to 57.
 
The Sunbirds tacked on in their final two at-bats with Miguel Ortiz belting a two-run homer in the 7^th as a part of a three run inning.
 
Jared Aguilar added an RBI double in the 8^th to complete a 4-5 game at the plate.
 
Andrew Valdez had three hits and drove in two, including an RBI knock to end the eighth.
 
HPU scored two unearned runs in the ninth before Jaylen Rodriguez got the final out of the game.
 
In game two, a couple of errors led to HPU scoring three times in the first.
 
Fresno Pacific recouped one of those on an RBI single by Andrew Valdez.
 
The Sunbirds delivered a string of hits in the second with Koutarou Matsumaru's two run single and Tommy Rover's two run double appearing to swing the momentum in FPU's favor.
 
But HPU capitalized on a string of walks and hit batters to score four of their own runs and regain the lead at 7-5.
 
Wild pitching and hit batters continued in the bottom half of the inning and FPU scored on a hit batter, wild pitch and a walk to regain the lead against four different relievers.
 
The Sunbirds would turn on the offense from there, scoring in every at-bat to pull away.
 
Cole Yoshida had a two run single in the fourth and a two run double in the fifth while Valdez blasted a two run homer and drove in another run with a single in the 6^th.
 
Riley Creech settled the game out of the bullpen, working 4.1 and navigating around 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7 to earn the win and the double-header sweep.

The Sunbirds got great pitching on both ends of the double-header furthering their strong numbers on the mound.

The offense saw multiple big days with Valdez and Aguilar continuing their monster seasons.

Shane Pursell had two 2-4 games to come through with a four-hit day in consecutive starts as well as a clutch throw to nab a runner at the plate from right field that stalled an early rally for Hawai'i Pacific.
 
FPU and HPU will wrap up the series on Saturday with a double-header beginning at noon on the FPU Diamond.
 
SOCIAL

• Twitter - @fpusunbirds
• Instagram - @fpusunbirds
• Facebook - /FPUsunbirds