AZUSA, Calif. – After two days of bad weather that wiped out the Pacific West Conference opener, the Chaminade University baseball team finally took to the diamond Saturday and managed a split against Azusa Pacific at Cougar Baseball Complex.
The Cougars took the opener, 6-3, before the Silverswords rallied for a 7-6 win in the seven-inning nightcap.
The 'Swords are 2-3 on the season while APU is 3-5. Both are 1-1 in the PacWest.
Game 1: APU 6, CUH 3
Azusa Pacific plated the game's first five runs while David Hays allowed just two walks in the first four innings.
Jackson Dorn (Happy Valley, Ore./Mt. Hood CC/Clackamas HS) ended Hays' no-hit bid with a one-out single in the fifth.
Down 6-0, the Silverswords finally put together base runners with two walks and a
Harrison Clark (Snoqualmie, Wash./Bellevue College/Mount Si HS) single to load the bases.
Safea Villaruz-Mauai (Hilo, Hawai'i/BYU/Waiakea HS) was plunked to bring in a run followed by
Cade Fujii's (Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Porterville College/Kapolei HS) RBI single. Dorn's sacrifice fly brought CUH to within 6-3 but that proved to be the final run of the game.
Anthony O'Canas (Woodland, Calif./American River College/Woodland HS) went five innings to take the loss.
Brennen Panis (Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Aiea), making his collegiate debut, tossed three shutout innings.
Hays got the win with the help of three Cougar home runs.
Game 2: CUH 7, APU 6
The Cougars posted three runs in the first before the 'Swords' countered with four in the third. An error plated two runs followed by an RBI double from
Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama). Villaruz-Mauai's single put Chaminade up, 4-3.
Casey Kudell's (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) RBI force-out an inning later gave them a 5-3 lead.
Azusa Pacific retook the lead in its half of the fifth thanks again to a pair of big flies, tying it with a two-run shot then, later in the inning, taking the lead with a solo homer from Elijah Cook.
But in the top of the sixth, Chaminade loaded the bases where
Benny Nazario (San Pablo, Calif./College of Marin/Pinole Valley HS) came up with a clutch two-out, two-run hit to right, to put the 'Swords ahead.
APU had the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth and again in the seventh.
Sebastian Castro (San Diego/Palomar College/Great Oak) struck out the only batter he faced, Danny Yanez, to finish off the split.
Joseph Perez (Goodyear, Ariz./Glendale CC/Verrado HS) tossed two shutout innings in relief to pick up his first win of the season with Castro picking up his first career save. Starter
Brayden Wells (Pullman, Wash./Lower Columbia CC/Pullman HS) went the first 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision. Lobetos had two of Chaminade's seven hits.
Joey Frey took the loss for APU.
The Silverswords and Cougars complete their four-game series on Monday with a nine- and seven-inning doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. Hawai'i time.
