SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a thrilling opener, No. 3 seed Fresno Pacific baseball secured a 3–0 shutout over No. 2 seed Concordia in the opening match of the PacWest Championship on Wednesday at Russ Carr Field. The Sunbirds' pitching staff allowed just four hits and no runs, contributing to the shutout win, while Dilworth swung for the fences to advance the Sunbirds to the next game!
"I'm very proud of this team. Our pitching was sensational," said head coach
Oscar Hirschkorn. "
Cruz Cabral gave us an outstanding start and
Drew Petty was fantastic out of the pen. We had a lot of good at bats's against a great pitcher, but Darryl Dilworth and Aaron Martinez were great. I loved the focus and energy that we had today."
Neither team was able to score until halfway through the match. In the fourth inning,
Darryl Dilworth Jr. singled and then stole second base, setting the stage for the PacWest Co-Defensive Player of the Year,
Gabe Henderson. The senior shortstop's RBI single to right field scored Dilworth to bring it to 1-0. In the sixth inning, Dilworth returned to the plate and extended the lead with a solo home run to right center! The Sunbirds' offense added another hit in the inning but left
Eric Wilson was stranded at third base after
Titus Wheelock grounded into a double play. The score remained 2–0 through six innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Golden Eagles mounted a late comeback, positioning two runners on second and third base. Senior outfielder
Chris Clement secured an insane fly out catch in foul territory then launched the ball to Lopez for the out at the plate to keep it 2-0. His double play cut off the sacrifice fly that would've made it a one-point game.
The All-PacWest selection duo added an insurance run in the ninth inning.
Aaron Martinez Jr. (Third Team All-PacWest) doubled to right field and later scored on
Alex Lopez's (First Team All-PacWest) sacrifice fly to left field. Concordia University Irvine threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two singles, but they failed to score, preserving the Sunbirds' 3–0 win.
Cruz Cabral delivered a dominant performance for the Sunbirds, pitching 7 shutout innings while allowing just one hit. He struck out four batters and issued two walks over 96 pitches, securing his eighth win of the season.
Drew Petty came in as a reliever and successfully closed the game with 2 innings pitched, striking out three and earning the save despite allowing three hits. Both pitchers combined efforts to prevent the Golden Eagles from scoring.
The Sunbirds are 33-24 overall and 27-17 in PacWest play.
To view the PacWest Tournament Central, CLICK HERE.
NEXT UP: The #3 Sunbirds face #1 Point Loma on Thursday, May 7 at 12:30 pm. The winner will advance to the championship game, while the other enters an elimination match against either #2 Concordia or #4 Westmont.
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