The Green and Gold took two out of four games from the Cougars in the series which concluded Saturday night. CUI was victorious in the first game on Saturday but fell in slugfest 14-11 in the second game. This pushes their record to 15-15 on the year with a 10-9 record in the PacWest, the Green and Gold will host No. 24 PLNU next Friday April. 14^th.

Game 1: CUI 6, APU 3

Redshirt junior center fielder Nathan Benefeito hit two home runs in yesterday's double-header, and he continued to stay hot as he went deep yet again in the first game of the Saturday double-header. Today's long ball gave Benefeito four homers on the year which is a new career high for the mission Viejo native.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after five innings against CUI starter Riley O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan didn't let that bother him as he buckled down and did not allow a run after the fifth inning. The San Diego native would go on to record his fourth complete game of the season finishing with six strikeouts, but more importantly, a win.

It took the CUI offense to wake up a little bit, but when they did, they couldn't stop. Sophomore catcher Vito Fowler got the scoring started for the Green and Gold when he ripped a single up the middle scoring graduate student Nick Hansen.

Freshman Makamae Du Pont got the start in the DH spot and tallied one hit on the day. In the top of the eighth with two runners on, head coach Joe Turgeon turned to his senior leader Calvin Schonebaum. Schonebaum came in to pinch hit and came through in the clutch ripping a single down the right-field line giving CUI a 4-3 lead.

Benefeito's homerun came in the bottom of the ninth which added more insurance for O'Sullivan.

Game 2: CUI 11, APU 14

Offense, offense, and more offense was the story of this game. The two teams combined for 23 hits and 25 runs.

The Golden Eagles got the scoring going early when freshman Owen Gott crushed a homerun to left field scoring three runs. Gott finished the day with two hits and four RBIs. Fresh off his clutch pinch hit performance in game 1, Schonebaum went deep in the top of the third extending the CUI lead to 8-4.

Freshman Jordan Bolden collected three hits in this one while also knocking in a run. Fellow freshman Landry Spitler and Schonebuam each had two RBI.

Sophomore Matt Des Marets got the nod on the mound for the Green and Gold and struck out two batters. The sophomore duo of Dawson Radik and Sebastian Diaz made an appearance in relief. Diaz pitched one inning while striking out one.

CUI visits APU for one non-conference game on Tuesday before hosting a doubleheader with Point Loma next Friday, April 14.
 
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