Glendale, Ariz. - The Firestorm converted Kane Kiaunis' two home runs into a 9-6 victory over their rival OUAZ under the Friday night lights. ACU won the hitting war 11-8, not blinking when a lead as large as five dwindled down to one in the fourth inning. 

Kiaunis was the game's offensive MVP, gunning two home runs that put five Firestorm runs on the board. Three other ACU players hit safely on at least two occasions, left fielder Jared Anderson leading the pack with three and catcher Ryan Eastham cashing in on two RBIs.

In Eastyn Culp's third start of 2024, he collected his second win by successfully working five innings on the mound, allowing four runs and punching out four Spirit batters. The Firestorm bullpen was three strong, and they combined for six strikeouts and two allowed runs to secure the opener against OUAZ.

Arizona Christian has now won three straight over the Spirit and moves into a tie for first in the GSAC standings with Hope International (9-6, 3-1 GSAC). 

GAME INFO

Score: RV Arizona Christian 9 | OUAZ 6
Records: RV ACU 8-6 (3-1 GSAC) | OUAZ 12-4 (1-3 GSAC)
Location: Greenway High School - Glendale, AZ

STAT TRACKER

Kane Kiaunis - 2 hits, 5 RBIs, 2 home runs
Ryan Eastham - 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 1 double
Jared Anderson - 3 hits, 1 double, 1 run
Deshon Thomas - 2 hits, 1 double
Sean Garcia - 1 hit, 1 RBI, 1 double
Jaylen Edmonds - 1 hit, 1 RBI
Eastyn Culp - 5.0 IP, 4 RA, 4 SOs

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Both starting pitchers, Culp and Zach Hangas, made quick work of the first inning as they sat down the batters in order. The Spirit's Nano Perez recorded the game's first hit (a single to left field) in the second, but was also part of the inning's conclusion, being thrown out at home by Deshon Thomas.

Designated hitter Troy Collins began what would be a monstrous second inning for Firestorm with a walk. A second walk by Sean Garcia cleared the stage for Kiaunis, who uncorked a home run to left field. Riley Quinton got aboard after being hit by Hangas' pitch and back-to-back doubles by Thomas and Eastham scored two more runs to make it 5-0 ACU.

Culp registered two of his four strikeouts in the third inning, and held OUAZ in check yet again. Anderson singled his next at-bat but was stranded. Former Firestorm, Daniel Durazo, led off the Spirit's fourth with a hit by pitch and two singles from Joey Winters and Nathan Tarver brought in their first run. A triple by OUAZ's top hitter, Christian Powell, sent in two more runs with no outs on the board. The Spirit's Logan Meyer would add a fourth run with their fourth hit of the inning before Culp had enough.

The two teams combined for one hit over the next two frames, and Chay Esqueda punched out two Spirit batters in his relief of Culp in the sixth. With two outs in the bottom half of the sixth, Jaylen Edmonds smacked a ball past second base and scored Quinton to put two runs between the squads (6-4). 

A balk from Esqueda helped OUAZ's Owen Prendergast reach home after getting on by a double, Nick Frantantoni advancing his teammate with a groundout to second. Their advantage back to one, Anderson and Garcia followed each other's lead with doubles. One run already in ACU's pocket, Kiaunis watched another ball carry the left fence and the Firestorm were bestowed ample breathing room (9-5).

Trey Tarver, who began the game at first base, was given the ball to close things out. He allowed one Spirit run to come through, but rang up three batters and got the job done.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH JOE MCDONALD

"That was a great team win tonight," Coach McDonald said. "Got production in the bottom half of the lineup and played good defense with some good pitching performances."

NEXT FOR THE FIRESTORM

The Arizona Christian Firestorm take a 1-0 series lead into tomorrow's double header against the OUAZ Spirit. First pitch from Greenway High School is set for 4:00 PM. The second game will begin 30 minutes following the first's conclusion. Catch all the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary and watch the broadcast at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/.  
    
                          
Roll Storm!