FRESNO, Calif. - Coming off a split with No. 14 Point Loma last weekend at Eagles Field, the Concordia baseball team (13-16, 8-6 PWC) started its eight-game road trip with Fresno Pacific (8-15, 4-6 PWC). CUI split the Friday doubleheader defeating FPU in game one by a score of 16-2 and totaling 17 hits before dropping the nightcap, 9-6. 

Jair Donovan crushed two home runs in the opener and his first bomb was also the first grand slam of the season for the Eagles.

Game One: Concordia 16, Fresno Pacific 2

It was a dominating performance for the Eagles as pitcher Brett Vansant made the start on the mound and earned his fourth win with a seven inning outing. Vansant allowed seven hits and only one run. Logan Mahaffy went to the mound for the last two innings, allowing just two hits and one run. 

Donovan blasted a grand slam to right field which gave Concordia a 6-1 lead in the second inning. Carl Turner was also impressive at the plate and went 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI singles in the third and fourth inning. Bailey Collins added an RBI triple in the top of the fourth, which pushed the score to 10-1 in favor of CUI. Donovan later hit a solo homer in the fifth, making that his second home run of the game with the score 12-1.

Juan Zuniga came in to pinch-hit towards the end of the game and contributed a base knock which brought home Haloa Dudoit.  Our recently named Newport Rib Company Eagle of the Week Nick Grimes and Dominic Castro would also score on a couple errors from the Sunbirds and an RBI sacrifice fly by Shane Hersh rounded out the scoring for the Eagles in the first game of the series.

Game Two: Fresno Pacific 9, Concordia 6

Senior Andrew Stout started game two for the Eagles and pitched five innings. After racking up five strikeouts, Stout was relieved by Jack Ruegge who pitched two innings, allowing three hits while striking out two.

The Sunbirds took an early 3-0 lead over the first two innings. The Eagles would retaliate in the next two frames with Dudoit reaching on an error and Chris Martin II scoring in the third. Jair Donovan and Tony Garcia III started things off for Concordia in the fourth, both earning a double. A couple RBI's would tie the game up at 3-3 by bottom of the fourth. 

Chris Martin II would go 3-for-4 during the game, and added a two-run double in the eighth to tie the game yet again at 6-6. The Sunbirds would come back in the bottom half of the inning however, scoring another two-run double and one RBI single to secure the lead. 

Up Next
Concordia baseball continues to play at Fresno Pacific in the final two games of the four game series on Saturday March 30. Game one is to start at 12PM with game two starting around 3PM.
Follow the action HERE.