By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Isaac Mendez went seven innings and allowed just four hits and one run and the offense did the rest as Azusa Pacific beat Biola 6-1 Friday in the first game of a doubleheader.
Mendez ran into trouble in the first inning allowing a run and two hits but settled down after that throwing six scoreless innings.
The Cougar offense got going in the third inning with two runs. They added one more in the fifth, two in the sixth in and one in the eighth. APU put on a power display in the sixth inning when Tido Robles and Cameron Lee belted back-to-back home runs.
In the Biola first Austin Carrillo walked, took second on a base hit by AJ Ortiz and scored on a double by Wyatt Duncan for a 1-0 Eagle lead. that was the last run Mendez allowed.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the third inning. Brett Soria walked and Spencer Rasmussen was hit by a pitch. George Christison doubled in Soria and Rasmussen scored on a groundball by Casey O’Laughlin.
In the fifth Christison singled and Will Stroud reached on an error. O’Laughlin singled to left to plate Christison.
Robles hit a shot that got out of the park in a hurry with one out on the sixth. He ripped a line drive that just cleared the barrier in right field for a home run. Lee followed with bomb to center and just like that the Cougs were up 5-1.
Rasmussen walked and moved around to score on a wild pitch in the eighth inning for the final run.
Mendez was in control after the first inning, He struck out nine and walked three. Andrew White came on to throw the last two scoreless innings. Mendez is now 2-1 on the year.
Lucas Bixby went six innings for Biola and suffered the loss as his record dropped to 2-1. The Eagles used four pitchers overall.
The Cougars pounded out eight hits on the day. Christison and Soria each had two.
Azusa Pacific improved to 4-6 on the season with the win while Biola fell to 3-5.
Note: Azusa Pacific also won the second game 6-1.
Leave a Reply