IRVINE, Calif.- All cylinders were firing in the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (14-12 overall) 4-1 and 12-2 wins over the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles (10-12 overall) Saturday at the Golden Eagles Baseball Field.
 
Fresno Pacific received solid pitching, powerful offense and played sterling defense in the double-header sweep, securing the non-conference series victory on the road.
 
The Sunbirds tallied two early runs after a single by Trent Mallonee and a double by Gabe Henderson started the game.
 
Andrew Valdez, the next batter, singled them both home for the 2-0 lead.
 
Riley Creech stepped to the bump with the lead and navigated through traffic on the bases in nearly every inning.
 
Creech allowed two hits in the bottom of the first but shut the Golden Eagles offense down without a run.
 
CUI got hits off Creech in each of the next three innings but couldn't get a run in any of those.


A solo homer finally got CUI on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Doubles by Jordan Smith and Mallonee in the seventh inning extended FPU's lead to 3-1.
 
FPU turned to the bullpen in the seventh after six solid innings from Creech.
 
After one out in the bottom of the 7^th, Gino Helmuth entered and slammed the door on the Golden Eagles, leaving two runners stranded in the inning by inducing a pair of pop ups.
 
Helmuth got another run of support after Donte Valdez doubled and came around to score on a pair of wild pitches.
 
Helmuth struck out the side in the bottom of the 8^th and then got two fly outs and a strikeout in the 9^th for his first save of the season.
 
Andrew Valdez opened the scoring again in game two with a run scoring single that plated Mallonee.
 
Tommy Rover walked later in the inning to force home a run and give the Sunbirds another two-run lead after a half inning.
 
Rylan Tinsley came on with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning to escape a jam and preserve the FPU lead.
 
The 'Birds capitalized, as Andrew Valdez singled in Mallonee again in the second inning and then Donte Valdez ripped a three-run homer to extend FPU's lead to 6-0.
 
The Sunbirds stretched the lead further in the third on Turner Pruitt's RBI triple. He came around to score on Mallonee's 5^th hit of the day and third of the game.
 
Up 8-0, FPU surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but the score remained 8-2 into the sixth.
 
After Micah Barkenhagen reached on an error, Gabe Henderson singled and then Shane Pursell doubled down the left field line to extend the advantage to 10-2.
 
Rover tacked on an RBI single to make it 11-2. The 'Birds added one more in the top of the 7^th.
 
Josiah O'Bannon closed the game out in the bottom of the 7^th.
 
It's good momentum for FPU who will host the same Golden Eagles for a conference series in the middle of April.
 
FPU will have the week off to prepare for a post-Easter non-conference series against Biola at the FPU Diamond beginning Monday, April 1^st.

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