2020 Opening Series / Photo taken by George Christison
Azusa Pacific baseball completed its first series of the 2020 campaign this past weekend against Chico State. The Cougars were able to win the first two games in Friday’s doubleheader before dropping the final game of the three-game series on Saturday.
In the Friday games, the Cougars were led by their experienced veterans. Starting pitchers Nick Estrella and AJ Woodall were fantastic. Estrella, considered to be the Ace coming into the season, went five scoreless innings in the opener. He recorded three strikeouts and allowed just three hits. Woodall was impressive in his five innings as well, striking out a career high nine and a solo home run was the only blemish of his outing.
Junior outfielder Casey Dykstra started the season with a bang for the Cougars. The first pitch he saw of his 2020 season was deposited into the nets in left center field for a home run in the third inning of the opener. Junior catcher Aaron Roose followed that up by crushing one to left field to go back-to-back increasing the lead to 2-0. Senior outfielder Griffen Herrera, another veteran, capped off the victory with a solo shot of his own late in the game putting the finishing touches on a 5-0 victory to start the season. Dykstra then drove in both runs in the second game as the Cougars won 2-1 in that one completing a two-game Opening Day sweep.
The Cougars would fall the following day however, by a score of 13-3. Tido Robles was among some of the standouts for the Cougars on day two. Robles, after going 0-for-7 the day before, went 2-for-4 with a double and home run. Robles was one of few that impressed in the loss. Of the others, true freshman starting pitcher Isaac Mendez tossed four scoreless innings to start the game. A bit surprising to see Mendez as the game three starter but, he was more than up to the task allowing just one hit and striking out one. Brendan Dixon who was coming off of a shoulder-related injury that put him out for the duration of the 2019 season, pitched for the first time since 2018. Dixon went 2.1 innings scoreless looking like his 2018 self pitching with confidence in multiple pitches that saw him post a sub-three ERA as a true freshman. The rest of the Cougars’ bullpen struggled which led to their ultimate demise for the first time of the season.
Time to give out some Opening Series awards, and have a little fun too!!
Early Dark Horse for MVP of the 2020 season: AJ Woodall. Viewed as the number two starter coming into the season for the Cougars, Woodall looked like a possible Ace in his first start. The reason being the punch outs. Last season he averaged six strikeouts per nine innings, to put his first start into perspective he’s averaging 16.2 strikeouts per nine.
Where are you at? Award: Declan Kearney. Kearney didn’t pitch at all in the opening series which was surprising. Kearney threw the third most innings for the Cougars last season, mostly used as the third starting pitcher.
Overall Winner: Depth. The Cougars have more depth than they know what to do with. Every which way you look, this team is deeper than ever before. Starting pitching has incredible depth and experience, the bullpen is healthier and younger than last season. Middle infield could be a revolving door, especially at the beginning of the season due to the depth at the position. This team has a lot of young potential, pair that with veteran starting pitching and a lineup that posed problems for the entire PacWest last season, and this team will eventually be great. Could take some time though because of the depth at each position, as position battles will be ongoing throughout the season.
It’s a Long Season…Calm Down Award: Osvaldo Tovalin. Tovalin, a preseason NCAA Division II Player of the Year Candidate only recorded two hits in three games. The guy is one of the best hitters in DII, everyone take a deep breath.
The Beat @APU 