Azusa salvages series split with DSU, but Storm still lead Pac West

ST. GEORGE – The Dixie State baseball team had to settle for a series split with the visiting Azusa Pacific Cougars after falling 5-2 in the final game of their four-game series Saturday at Bruce Hurst Field.

Unlike the three previous games, where the winning team scored 12 runs each time, this game displayed pitching and defense as both teams struggled to put runs on the board.

dsulogoAzusaCougarslogoDixie’s only two runs came early, and both were unearned. Drew McLaughlin scored in the first on a throwing error. Dalton Gust scored in the third after reaching on a fielding error.

DSU starting pitcher Kody Christoffersen kept the Cougars scoreless through six innings. APU put two on the board in the top of the seventh with three singles and a double. Christoffersen was able to get out of the inning when the Cougars got nailed on both ends by tags on a double steal attempt.

Azusa put up two more in eighth and another insurance run in the ninth. Dixie State, which came back from a late deficit Friday night against the Cougars, was unable to match that rally, allowing APU to even the season series 2-2.

Christoffersen took the loss and falls to 2-3 on the season. Joel Belk pitched a complete game for the Cougars and got the win to improve to 4-1.

The Red Storm fall to 26-13 overall, 20-4 in the Pac West. APU moves to 20-13, 13-7 in the Pac West, five games back of the Red Storm.

The Red Storm will contnue their home stand with three games next week against non-conference Cal State-Los Angeles beginning with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday at Hurst Field.

The Cougars will now travel to Hawaii for four games against Hawaii Pacific and UH-Hilo.

Stats: APU 5, DSU 2

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.