AZUSA, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team dropped both games of Friday's doubleheader against #17 Azusa Pacific, evening out to 9-9 on the season.
In Game 1, the Eagles scored 5 runs on 10 hits. In the third inning,
Bailey Collins stole second base, allowing
Matt Lautz to sneak home on the throw and giving CUI their first run of the game. The next inning,
Haloa Dudoit singled to right field, scoring freshman
Xavier Gonzalez. Senior
Cooper Moore then hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Dudoit and giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
APU responded with a 5-run fifth inning, taking a 6-3 lead.
The Eagles would battle back in the sixth as both Lautz and Collins collected an RBI, cutting the deficit to just one. However, the Cougars added on insurance runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, securing the victory by a final score of 8-5.
Seven different CUI pitchers toed the rubber in Game 1, but were unable to stop the APU offense as they surrendered 8 runs on 11 hits while striking out 4 Cougars.
Game 2 featured a slugfest, as five Eagle batters hit a home run and six collected multiple hits.
Cooper Moore led the charge with a 4 RBI performance, hitting an RBI double in the first and a 3-run home run in the third. Moore leads the Green & Gold with 30 RBI on the season, and after today's performance, has cracked the Top 100 on the NCAA Division II RBI leaderboard.
Other key offensive performers include
Xavier Gonzalez, who hit his first career home run to left field in the third inning, Collins (2 for 4, HR, RBI),
Jair Donovan (2 for 4, HR, 3 RBI),
Kyle Fujisaki (1 for 3, HR, 2 RBI), and Lautz (2 for 4, 2B, 3 runs scored).
The Eagles look to take both games in Saturday's doubleheader against APU at Eagles Field.
CLICK HERE for the full 2021 CUI baseball schedule.
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