Azusa Pacific finished the regular season on a 7-game win streak, including a 5-0 record last week. They are the PacWest Team of the Week. Biola’s Jake Anderson picked up a win and a save out of the bullpen in a pair of victories against Concordia, but CUI’s Michael Dixon kept Biola from four wins with his work at the plate. Anderson is the Pitcher of the Week and Dixon, who hit. 611, is the Player of the Week.

2023 Results/Schedule
2023 Standings
2023 Statistics

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Concordia’s Michael Dixon, Jr., OF, Oakland, Calif.                                                                                                 
Junior outfielder Michael Dixon went 11-for-18 in five games for Concordia, a sizzling average of .611. He had a pair of doubles, a triple, scored five times and drove home seven home runs. Four of the games were against Biola where he helped the Golden Eagles to a split to keep their tournament hopes alive. In one of the victories against the Eagles, Dixon went 4-for-5, scored three times, and drove home four runs with a double and a triple. The former University of San Diego player is now hitting .377 on the season.
 
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Biola’s Jake Anderson, Jr., RHP, Southlake, Texas                                                                                                  
Jake Anderson was big in Biola's two wins over Concordia last week, picking up a win and a save out of the bullpen. He had a three-inning save in a 4-3 win, allowing just one hit and fanning three. In his mound victory he also came off the bench, working four innings against the Golden Eagles without allowing a runner to cross the plate while scattering four hits. For the weekend, he pitched seven innings, gave up five hits, no runs and struck out seven. He allowed only one extra base hit (a double) in those seven innings. The victory was his first of the season and the save was his third.

COUGARS CRUISE TO END OF REGULAR SEASON: The team of the week is the AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS. APU swept Academy of Art in a four-game series and won a wild 11-10 non-conference contest against Concordia. They finished PacWest play at 22-10 and are currently in first place as they wait for the rest of the pack to finish conference play. The Cougars have won seven in a row, are ranked fourth in the latest west region poll and are 31-17 overall. Brett Soria and Will Stroud led the Cougar offense last week with six RBI each, with Soria hitting .529 and Stroud .412.

IT’S COMPLICATED: The first-ever PacWest Championship baseball tournament is now only two weeks away, on May 10-12 in Fresno. The top four teams by conference winning percentage at the after the last game on May 2 will qualify for the double elimination tournament.  The standings currently look like this, with conference records listed. First place Azusa Pacific is done with their regular season, but the rest have games still to play.  (1) Azusa Pacific 22-10, (2) Point Loma 16-8,  (3) Fresno Pacific 15-8, (4) Hawaii Hilo 13-14, (5) Holy Names 13-15, (6) Biola 11-13, (7) Concordia 12-15, (8) Hawaii Pacific 12-17, (9) Academy of Art 7-21.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Hawaii Hilo went 4-0 over the weekend with wins over Hawaii Pacific. Two of the games were conference, the other two were non-conference…Point Loma and Fresno Pacific will play a make-up doubleheader today in San Diego, featuring a battle between the clubs listed second and third in the standings. This will be the first meeting this season between the Sunbirds and Sea Lions…Biola had nine stolen bases over the weekend…Holy Names’ Esai Santos hit .583 in four games with a pair of doubles, a triple and a home run…Landon Levine of Academy of Art was 9-for-17 (.529) and scored six times in four games…Concordia’s Nathan Benefeito continued his hot pace by hitting .471 over CUI’s five games, scoring six times…APU’s Spencer Rassmussen drove home eight runs in four games with three home runs…Biola’s Oscar Serratos had two home runs for the Eagles…On the mound, HNU’s Eddie Curley pitched a gem against Point Loma, tossing a seven-inning shutout and allowing just two singles in the Hawks’ 3-0 victory.

PACWEST HAS FOUR- MEMBERS IN- REGIONAL TOP 10: The PacWest and the CCAA dominate the NCBWA Division II West Region poll, with the PacWest represented with four teams on the list. Here is today’s poll (April 24). (1) CS San Bernardino (7 first place votes) 32-13, (2). CS Monterey Bay (6 first place votes) 28-12, (3). Point Loma 28-12, (4). Azusa Pacific 31-17, (5). Stanislaus State 24-17, (T6). Cal Poly Pomona 24-17, (T6). San Francisco State 24-15, (8). Fresno Pacific 21-17, (9). Western Oregon 21-12, (10). Hawaii Hilo 24-16. RV—CS East Bay 22-19, Holy Names 23-21, Montana State Billings 20-20.