IRVINE, Calif. - Friday's doubleheader between Concordia University Irvine and Azusa Pacific was certainly not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill sweep.

Concordia climbed out of a 10-run deficit in the series opener to stun the host Cougars in a slug fest and then followed that up with a lock-down gem on the mound by one of their main pitchers in the rematch.

This marks the largest comeback for the CUI baseball program in the NCAA DII era and brought back memories of two other epic comebacks in recent years.

CUI defeated APU back in 2021 by erasing an 8-run deficit and ultimately using a seven-run ninth inning to earn a memorable victory.

Another monumental turnaround came after falling behind by seven and digging out of the deficit thanks to an 8-run ninth inning against Regis back in 2022.

Remarkably, both those trips down memory lane ended with a walk-off hit by Concordia infielder Will Bonn.

This year's squad has now left its mark as part of the Concordia Comeback Legacy

Game 1: CUI 13, APU 11

Concordia was staring down a nightmare of a start against the Cougars after APU jumped out to a 10-0 lead after just two innings.

Dominic Nunes however helped turned the tide as he came on in relief and tossed 5.1 shutout innings to stop the bleeding.

On offense, Concordia started to chip away every inning. Landry Spitler got CUI on the board with a RBI double in the third. That was followed by a RBI single by Nicolas Erickson and a sac fly by Jordan Bolden in the fourth to make it 10-3.

Isaiah Walz joined the part with a RBI double down the left field line in the fifth. That set the stage for Wyatt Madison who crushed a two-run bomb just moments later and all of a sudden it was just a 10-6 lead. Dylan Knowles then followed that up with a solo homer to make it 10-7 and put CUI back within range.

CUI took the lead with four more runs in the sixth. Spitler and Walz each had RBI singles and ultimately CUI took the lead for good 11-10 after Madison scored on a passed ball.

Erickson added a home run in the eighth and CUI tacked on an insurance run in the ninth to preserve what would wind up to be an unlikely 13-11 victory.

While Nunes kept the APU offense at bay for the middle innings, freshman Caden Miller also did his part to get the final six outs and earn his sixth save on the campaign.


Game 2: CUI 7, APU 0

The second contest was a totally different type of game. Junior pitcher Matthew Kaiser threw a complete game shutout and only allowed two hits and three walks over seven innings.

CUI was the team jumping on the scoreboard right away this time, with Erickson and Bolden providing RBI singles sandwiched around a clutch RBI double by Nolan Caira.

Walz added a two-run blast in the second to make it 5-0 Golden Eagles. Madison and Erickson stretched the Concordia lead to 7-0 with a pair of RBI singles in the fourth.

That was more than enough room to operate for Kaiser and his battery mate, catcher Ian Stewart. Kaiser struck out six and improved to 5-5 on the season. This marks the fourth time the right-hander has gone seven strong innings as a junior. Concordia is 5-0 when he pitches at least six innings or more.

Concordia kept its hold on second place in the conference behind front-runner Point Loma. The Golden Eagles have their eyes on a PacWest Conference Tournament bid and are gaining momentum to be one of the four teams that qualify for the bracket.

CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest Conference baseball standings

CUI and APU go right back at it on Saturday, April 18 over in Irvine. It will be Senior Day at Concordia with first pitch of the doubleheader slated for 1 p.m. PT.

Senior Day festivities are scheduled to take place before the game, roughly around 12:30 p.m.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI baseball schedule