AZUSA, Calif. – California Baptist and Dixie State held off elimination at the NCAA Baseball West Regional with wins on Friday. Azusa Pacific lost a winner’s bracket game in the nightcap.
APU faces Cal Poly Pomona in an elimination game on Saturday at 11 a.m. Dixie State and California Baptist will play an elimination game at 3 p.m.
California Baptist 14 – Chico State 2
No. 5 CBU used 14 hits, three home runs to eliminate No. 1Chico State, 14-2.
Brian Ruhm hit two home runs,
Ryan Williams hit the other, and the two each drove in five runs. Ruhm’s grand slam highlighted a five-run second inning for the Lancers. He added a solo home run to start a four-run fourth inning. Williams hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put CBU up 12-0.
Andrew Bash went the distance for CBU, allowing seven hits and two walks, and striking out four. He held Chico State scoreless through the first six innings, retiring the side in order in four innings.
Dixie State 6 – Cal Poly Pomona 5 (10 innings)
No. 3 Dixie State was down to its last strike against No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona, but fought back to tie the game and eventually win, 6-5, in 10 innings.
Tyler Baker provided the game-tying double and
Mile Bice drove in the winning run with a groundout in the 10
th.
An RBI single by
Trey Kamachi in the third inning and a two-out single by
Bryce Feist in the seventh put Dixie State ahead, 3-1. The lead held until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Broncos hit three home runs to plate four runs to go up, 5-3, heading into Dixie’s final at-bats. With runners on first and second, and two outs, Baker hit a 3-2 pitch into the gap in left center to tie the score and keep the Trailblazers alive.
Cal Poly put the winning runner on third in the ninth and
Tanner Howell stranded him there with a strikeout. Dixie State opened the 10
th inning with a walk and a hit by pitch, and then sacrificed the runners over to second and third. Bice grounded out up the middle to push through the go-ahead run. Howell started the bottom half of the inning with a strikeout, a single, and a strikeout, but a passed ball allowed the runner to reach third. CPP loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and a walk, and
Tyler Burdett came on in relief and induced a foul pop up that Lucero caught right in front of the backstop.
UC San Diego 4 – Azusa Pacific 1
No. 4 UC San Diego one-hit No. 2 Azusa Pacific for a 4-0 win, handing the Cougars their first loss of the regional. The Tritons received a complete game from their starter for the second night, as Adrian Orosco carried a perfect game into the seventh and a no-hitter into the ninth. He lost the no-hitter with one out in the ninth on a
Pablo O’Connor single, and finished the complete game with one hit, two walks and 11 strikeouts.
Michael Fairchild took the loss for APU, allowing for runs (two earned) in 6.0 innings. He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out eight. He started the third inning with two strikeouts, but UCSD loaded the bases and two runs scored on a dropped fly ball in center field. The Tritons tacked on additional runs in the fifth and sixth innings.