NAMPA, Idaho – Playing in its first game this season out of state, Azusa Pacific took on host Northwest Nazarene in the NCAA West Regional in an elimination game for NNU, but the No. 2-seeded Nighthawks stayed alive with a 3-2 win over the Cougars on their home field.
 
The Nighthawks scored two runs in the top of the first inning after having lost to Western Oregon earlier in the day, and the Cougars had to play from behind the rest of the way. Two solo home runs evened the score, but Northwest Nazarene broke the tie and took a 3-2 lead with a solo home run in the fifth inning to win the game.
 
As the No. 1 seed, Azusa Pacific got the advantage of facing the losing team of the tournament’s first game. Western Oregon, playing in its first game in weeks after having to cancel the last two weeks of games this season, defeated GNAC Champion Northwest Nazarene to set up the matchup for the tournament’s second game.
 
Brendan Dixon got his ninth start of the season for the Cougars and allowed just three runs over the course of 4.1 innings pitched and struck out six batters. Then, David Hays threw 4.2 shutout innings in relief with just one hit allowed and 12 strikeouts recorded in the 16 batters he faced. For most of this season, holding an opponent to three runs, would be more than enough for Azusa Pacific, but the Cougars’ bats were slowed down by Sascha Jabusch, who held them to just five hits.

"Sascha had a dominant performance today. He did a great job," Azusa Pacific head coach Paul Svagdis said. "He was working all his pitches. That was really impressive to throw a complete game. To do that in an elimination game takes a level of toughness that we certainly admire on our side of the dugout."
 
Nick Estrella got one of the two runs back for the Cougars with his solo shot in the second inning. Then in the fourth inning, Azusa Pacific tied the score with another solo home run by Omar Lopez. For the rest of the game, Jabusch retired 16 of the next 17 batters to stop the Cougars from adding any more runs.

"Dixon and Hays kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win in the end," Svagdis said. "They both did really well. Brendan is a mentally tough athlete, and he didn't disappoint. We are in the losers' bracket now and we need to win a game. That's the bottom line. Playoff baseball is high-level baseball."
 
Azusa Pacific will now have to face Western Oregon on Friday to keep its season alive. If the Cougars win that game, each team will have one loss, making it a single-elimination tournament the rest of the way.