FRESNO, Calif. – The FPU baseball team hosted Concordia for a PacWest Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, taking the opener 7-6 in extra innings before dropping the series finale 6-4. The Sunbirds finish the season with a 4-4 split against Concordia, with the road team winning three games in both series. 
 
Roman Rosales helped the Blue and Orange start the scoring in the first inning of the day, plating a run on a sac fly to left to give FPU an early lead. Donte Valdez followed with a single through the right side to score Gabe Henderson from second. 
 
Concordia scratched across a run in each of the next two innings to pull the game even, but Andrew Valdez singled in a run to put the 'Birds back in front. The Eagles answered with a two-spot in the top of the fourth, taking a 4-3 lead before adding two more in the top of the eighth. 
 
Four Sunbirds came up with base hits in the ninth to bring in three runs and tie the game at six. The winning run was stranded at second base, but the home nine got another opportunity in the tenth when a wild pitch gave FPU their first win of the series. Ethan Tsui came up clutch with a ground-rule double and scored the winning run from second on the wild pitch.
 
The top third of the Sunbird order came up big in Saturday's opener, with Trent Mallonee, Henderson and Andrew Valdez combining for seven hits, five runs and four RBI. Josiah O'Bannon retired all three batters he faced in the tenth to pick up his first relief win of the year. 
 
Concordia got on the board in the first inning of the nightcap, but the 'Birds stormed back with a four-run home half capped by Joshua Pernetti's fourth homer of the year. The Eagle offense wasted no time going back to work, plating two in the second before taking the lead in the sixth and providing an insurance run in the seventh. 
 
Pernetti's three-RBI day paced the FPU offense, while Chris Clement was the lone Sunbird with a multi-hit performance. Mallonee extended his hitting streak to an even 10 games, marking his new season-best. 
 
The Sunbirds have just one series left on the schedule, a two-game set against conference rival Azusa Pacific on Senior Day. First pitch of Thursday's doubleheader is slated for 2:00 p.m. from FPU Diamond.