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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
BB Week 6 Preview

Baseball Payne Moses

Season Reset, Home Field Remains

Glendale, Ariz. - With an even overall record and conference record (8-8, 3-3 GSAC), the Firestorm head into Week 6 with intentions to move forward with renewed purpose. Their first opportunity to steer the ship toward winner's island is a Tuesday night contest against Park Gilbert. ACU's third conference series arrives on Friday with #17 Vanguard coming to Glendale.

Through February 24th, Arizona Christian manages a .296 team batting average (6th in GSAC), 5.74 team pitching ERA (4th in GSAC) and .532 slugging percentage (2nd in GSAC). Trey Tarver has six home runs to his credit (4th in GSAC), Eli Elliott posts a 3.20 ERA (3rd in GSAC), Jared Anderson has hit seven doubles (T-3rd in GSAC) and Jaylen Edmonds maintains a .400 batting average (9th in GSAC).

Game Details

RV Arizona Christian vs Park Gilbert - Tuesday, February 27 at 7:30 PM
RV Arizona Christian vs #17 Vanguard - Friday, March 1 at 7:00 PM
RV Arizona Christian vs #17 Vanguard - Saturday, March 2 at 4:00 PM
RV Arizona Christian vs #17 Vanguard - Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 PM

Greenway High School - Glendale, AZ

*All Times Are Arizona Time

Live Coverage

Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/ 
Live Stats - https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary 

Arizona Christian

Positive starts in each game of Saturday's double header resulted in a zero sum, as the Firestorm recorded 10 total errors and lost both to rival OUAZ. The body of work was similar to last week's double against Jessup, as ACU and OUAZ combined for 34 hits in game one and only 14 in game two. 

Marques Titialii gave the Firestorm something to smile about, a single in the opener bringing in two runs and establishing him as the outright RBI leader in program history (124). The senior from Seattle, Washington broke a tie with Justin Ramirez, who holds the ACU Baseball's record for career hits (233).

There were three Firestorm home runs in game one, catcher Troy Collins leading those with one in the overall hitting category with three hits and three RBIs. Deshon Thomas and Jaylen Edmonds each reached safely on three occasions in the two ball games, Thomas separating himself with a team-leading two doubles.

Jackson Hohensee made his third start of 2024 in game one, and gave up a season-high nine hits and six runs in four innings on the mound. Eli Elliott was tasked with game two, in which he held his own by working five full innings, striking out five Spirit batters and allowing two runs.

ACU Key Players

Jaylen Edmonds - .400 BA, 22 hits, 13 RBIs 
Troy Collins - .353 BA, 12 hits, 10 RBIs
Deshon Thomas - .353 BA, 12 hits, 7 RBIs
Kane Kiaunis - .347 BA, 17 hits, 17 RBIs
Andrew Ivy - .321 BA, 17 hits, 15 RBIs
Marques Titialii - .308 BA, 16 hits, 15 RBIs
Ryan Eastham - .304 BA, 14 hits, 14 RBIs
Eli Elliott - 3.20 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 32 SOs
Eastyn Culp - 5.12 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 25 SOs

Series Notes

The Firestorm are 8-2 in their all-time series with the Park Gilbert Buccaneers, dating back to the 2020 season. ACU is 3-0 as the home team and has reeled off four straight wins, all coming this past season. In the most recent meeting, the Firestorm defeated the Buccaneers 9-8 at Glendale High School, scoring six unanswered to come back from an 8-3 deficit through five complete innings. Marques Titialii led ACU with three hits, three RBIs and two home runs. Trey Tarver picked up the win on the mound, striking out two batters in the ninth inning to seal victory.

Arizona Christian is 14-31 against Vanguard in their all-time series that dates back to the 2011 season. The Firestorm split last year's series (2-2), capped off by a postseason win that ended the Lions' season. Only on three occasions has ACU strung multiple wins together in this series, as Vanguard has three winning streaks of at least six games (10 in row being the longest). In the aforementioned postseason game, the Firestorm hung on to win 5-2 in Irvine, California with Adrian Santa Cruz throwing six straight scoreless innings and Coach McDonald collecting his 400th career win at ACU. The Firestorm are 3-18 at home entering Friday.

Thoughts From Coach Joe McDonald

"We have a new rejuvenated spirit to our dugout today as we move forward fast with positivity and yet another big week on the field," Coach McDonald said.

Park Gilbert

The Park University Gilbert Buccaneers (9-7, 3-0 Cal Pac) opened their 2024 season with a 3-game series loss (1-2) to College of Idaho, but have straightened things out with four consecutive wins. The Buccaneers most recently swept Cal Pac foe University of Saint Katherine in a three-game series to open up conference play, with scores of 7-6, 7-5, 11-5. In the 11-5 win over USK, Park Gilbert exploded for nine runs in the second inning, amassing seven hits that featured two doubles. Through 16 games, Andrew Allanson is the top hitter (.410 BA, 16 hits, 6 home runs), Junior Flores is the leading pitcher (2.33 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 15 SOs) and Diego Bejarano is the best fielder (36 putouts, three assists, 1.00 fielding percentage)... The Buccaneers lead the Cal Pac in walks (82), are second in RBIs (110) and are third in total strikeouts (103).

Vanguard

The Vanguard University Lions (13-5, 3-2 GSAC) were tabbed the 17th-best team in the NAIA in November's preseason coaches' poll. The Lions went 2-1 in the 2nd Annual NAIA Ball East West Challenge hosted by ACU, picking up wins over #7 Bellevue (3-0) and #6 Tennessee Wesleyan (7-3). In their opening two GSAC series, Vanguard played three games decided by one run, going 1-2, and posted two dominant wins (third was postponed to a later date) over Menlo. VU most recently swept a four-game series against Bethesda (CA) in Costa Mesa, amounting 18 runs and 24 hits in this past Saturday's double header. The Lions have a .298 team batting average (5th in GSAC), 3.98 team pitching ERA (1st in GSAC) and 19 total errors (T-2nd fewest in GSAC). Corey Jarrell is the top hitter (.391 BA, 25 hits, 16 RBIs), Spencer Edmondson is the top pitcher (2.67 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 31 SOs) and Tevis Payne is the top fielder (89 putouts, 9 assists, 1.00 fielding percentage).
  

Roll Storm!
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Players Mentioned

Justin Ramirez

#21 Justin Ramirez

OF
5' 9"
Senior
Troy Collins

#40 Troy Collins

C
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
Ryan Eastham

#4 Ryan Eastham

C
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Eli Elliott

#8 Eli Elliott

P
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
Jackson Hohensee

#34 Jackson Hohensee

P
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Andrew Ivy

#30 Andrew Ivy

OF
5' 9"
Sophomore
L/L
Adrian Santa Cruz

#13 Adrian Santa Cruz

P
6' 4"
Senior
R/R
Trey Tarver

#10 Trey Tarver

P
6' 3"
Junior
L/L
Deshon Thomas

#2 Deshon Thomas

OF
6' 2"
Junior
R/R
Marques Titialii

#11 Marques Titialii

OF
6' 0"
Senior
R/R
Jared Anderson

#17 Jared Anderson

OF/1B
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Eastyn Culp

#15 Eastyn Culp

P
6' 4"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Justin Ramirez

#21 Justin Ramirez

5' 9"
Senior
OF
Troy Collins

#40 Troy Collins

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
C
Ryan Eastham

#4 Ryan Eastham

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
C
Eli Elliott

#8 Eli Elliott

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
P
Jackson Hohensee

#34 Jackson Hohensee

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Andrew Ivy

#30 Andrew Ivy

5' 9"
Sophomore
L/L
OF
Adrian Santa Cruz

#13 Adrian Santa Cruz

6' 4"
Senior
R/R
P
Trey Tarver

#10 Trey Tarver

6' 3"
Junior
L/L
P
Deshon Thomas

#2 Deshon Thomas

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
OF
Marques Titialii

#11 Marques Titialii

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
OF
Jared Anderson

#17 Jared Anderson

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
OF/1B
Eastyn Culp

#15 Eastyn Culp

6' 4"
Junior
R/R
P