Larson's Big Day:Â
In a season that was dominant from start to finish,Â
Larson Kindreich had an obvious masterpiece outing: February 14 at Eagles Diamond against UC Colorado Springs. Kindreich took the ball in the seven-inning game after his teammates escaped with a 6-5 walkoff victory in the first part of the doubleheader and sliced through the Mountain Lions' lineup on the way to his second career complete game shutout. The sophomore left-hander earned NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out a career-high 15 batters, striking out every member of the Mountain Lions' starting lineup at least once, and recording eight K's in a row from the fourth to the seventh inning. But what was just as impressive as Kindreich's strikeout stuff was his pinpoint command over his seven innings. After ending the second inning with a strikeout of John Mallon on three pitches, the left-hander went on a run of throwing 43 of 47 pitches for strikes and had two-strike counts against 12-straight batters. All told, he recorded 22 two-strike counts against the 25 batters he faced and prevented UCCS from hitting the ball into fair territory for three innings after the Mountain Lions got a leadoff single in the fourth. Lastly, Kindreich also induced 22 swing-and-misses from UCCS batters and didn't allow a runner to reach third base safely until the top of the seventh inning.
Mike's Moment:Â
The best rivalries are the ones with a perfect mix of great history and the sense that anything can happen in every meeting. Enter the 2020 PacWest conference tournament semifinal between Biola and APU men's basketball, another new chapter in the teams' rivalry as the first PacWest Tournament meeting between the Eagles and Cougars. The Eagles entered as first-timers in the tournament and came into the game as the No. 5 seed in the tournament. They had to defeat Concordia Irvine for the second time in a week just to have a shot at the semifinals. The Cougars entered as the regular season PacWest champions and No. 1 seed in the tournament. APU was in the midst of a 20-game winning streak and were playing on their home floor. Initially, it seemed like APU would extend their winning streak, jumping out to a 20-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game. But the Eagles chipped away to make it a 10-point halftime deficit and roared back to make it a three-point game just five minutes into the second half on a
Whitten Dominguez three. Biola finally wrestled the lead from the Cougars for the first time on free throws from
Chris Rossow and created a back-and-forth fight to the finish for the final 12 minutes of the contest. Finally, with the game tied at 79 and less than a minute left,
Alex Wright and
Michael Bagatourian ran a flawless pick-and-pop where Wright drew two defenders in then found Bagatourian all alone behind the three-point line. Bags cashed in, APU missed their final attempt to tie and the Eagles wrapped up an upset in an instant classic between the two schools.
First Round Results:
Jen's Big Day (48%) vs.
Larson's Big Day (52%)
Jamir Seals It (56%) vs. Down Goes APU (44%) -
MOST VOTES IN 1ST ROUND (898)
60 Minutes Win It (40%) vs.
A Run To Remember (60%)
Stunning Start (42%) vs.
Record Breaker (58%)
See the schedule below and be sure to follow us on all three platforms to give your top moments the best chance of advancing.Â
Monday, May 11 - Second Round begins
Wednesday, May 20 - Second Round ends
Thursday, May 21 - Elite Eight matchups announced
Monday, May 25 - Elite Eight begins
Thursday, May 28 - Elite Eight ends
Friday, May 29 - Final Four matchups announced
Monday, June 1 - Final Four begins
Wednesday, June 3 - Championship matchup
Thursday, June 4 - Winner announced
