Saturday, March 15, 2008 - FPU Field
#23 Sunbirds split doubleheader with Hawks

Fresno- Late heroics by both Justin Keeney and Casey Padgett, allowed the Sunbirds to pull out game one of the doubleheader. Kenney delivered a two run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Padgett had a pinch hit double in the ninth inning to drive home the winning run in the 3-2 win.

Both starting pitchers went eight strong innings to keep the runs at a minimum.

San Diego Christian scored the first runs in the top of the sixth inning. A two run inning gave them the lead late into the game. Pitcher Chris Schwinden didn't let the two runs shake him and kept his focus to pitch two more scoreless frames.

While Schwinden stayed locked in, the Sunbirds got on the board in the eighth. Catcher Josh Jackson hit a two out single to jump start the rally and Keeney topped it off with a two run bomb over the center field fence.

David Zizzo was called out of the bullpen to keep the Sunbirds lead in tack, and that he did with a 1-2-3 inning.

It only took two batters to cap off the rally. Jeff Taylor came off the bench to pinch hit and reached base as a hits-batsmen. Padgett then scorched a double to the center field wall for the victory.

Zizzo was awarded the win and Keeney lead the Sunbirds at the plate with a 2 for 4 night. Case Rigby and Jackson also had a multi hit game.

Game 2 was a back and forth battle that ended in a sour way for the Sunbirds. Another late rally ended in an extra inning meltdown in the 10-4 loss.

The Sunbirds jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the second inning. Short stop Mitch Mulligan raked a double to hit two runners in and Thomas Raymundo followed suite with a double that scored Mulligan.

While the Sunbirds bats went silent, the Hawks continued to chip away and scored four runs in the next three innings.

In the seventh inning the Sunbirds managed a run to tie the ball game and forced it into extra innings, but when the tenth inning came around they surrendered six runs which was too much to over come.

Antone Ontiveros was nailed with the loss to drop his record to 5-2. Raymundo and Keeney each went 2 for 4 at the plate.

The split puts the Sunbirds record at 14-6 overall and 10-4 in the GSAC. They will be back in action this Tuesday, March 18th, when they play host to Simpson. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

Updated Records
Hawks: 12-10, 8-9 GSAC
#23 Sunbirds: 14-6, 10-4 GSAC