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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
2024 GSAC BB Tournament Preview
Khaxil Stewart

Baseball Payne Moses

GSAC Preview: ACU Fired Up For The Postseason

Irvine, Calif. - ACU Baseball closed their regular-season campaign on a heater, winning 18 of their final 21 games and rewriting team and individual records in the process. Their postseason journey and bid for a spot in Lewiston, Idaho begins tomorrow with the 2024 GSAC Baseball Tournament (April 29-May 2), hosted by Vanguard University. 

The Firestorm's 14-10 conference record penciled them in the third seed and set up a date with two-seed Jessup on Monday afternoon. Once the first pitch is thrown, it will officially signify the first meeting between the two clubs in the double-elimination GSAC Baseball Tournament. 

Three Firestorm players (Eli Elliott, Marques Titialii, Kane Kiaunis) earned a place on the 2024 GSAC All-Conference Team, as announced from Aliso Viejo, California earlier this morning. Elliott and Titialii also filled the pitcher and left fielder positions on the Gold Glove Team and Elliott was named the Pitcher of the Year.

With a minimum of two games left in their 2024 season, ACU is poised to break the following team program records: .437 OBP (.418 in 2023), .565 SLG (.493 in 2023) and .329 BA (.334 in 2021). Through 49 games, the Firestorm have already shattered the following single-season records: most home runs (85 passed 58 in 2023), most RBI (435 passed 411 in 2023), most runs scored (495 passed 467 in 2022) and most pitching strikeouts (541 passed 484 in 2022).

Arizona Christian enters the postseason with a .329 BA (2nd in GSAC, T-25 in NAIA), 5.12 ERA (3rd in GSAC, 42nd in NAIA) and .962 FP (5th in GSAC, T-55th in NAIA). Joe McDonald's squad has tallied 435 RBI (1st in GSAC, T-6th in NAIA), 561 hits (1st in GSAC, 3rd in NAIA) and 218 extra-base hits (1st in GSAC, T-5th in NAIA).

Game Details

RV Arizona Christian vs. #12 Jessup - Monday, April 29 at 2:00 PM
RV Arizona Christian vs. TBD - Tuesday, April 30 at TBD

OC Great Park - Irvine, CA

*All Times Are Arizona Time

Live Coverage

Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/vanguard/ 
Live Stats - https://jessupathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary 

Arizona Christian

Arizona Christian came out on top 12-11 in a back-and-forth affair with Embry-Riddle (AZ) on Wednesday afternoon. After squandering an early six-run advantage (7-1), the Firestorm broke a seventh-inning tie and maintained distance through the finish line. A closing regular-season victory capped off an 18-3 (7-2 GSAC) stretch for ACU after getting out of the gates slow at 14-14. 

Trey Tarver, the game's starting pitcher and designated hitter, was dynamite in both roles. He rang up three Eagles, batted in a team-high four runs and unloaded the Firestorm's only long ball (his 12th of the season) in the sixth inning. 

Third baseman Kane Kiaunis knocked in three runs on three hits. Kiaunis' latest multi-hit game is his 20th of the season and sixth with at least three hits. 

Matthew Beckworth continued to impress (2-for-5), recording at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games. With a double in his first plate appearance, the shortstop has registered eight of his 11 total extra-base hits this season in that same 10-game period.

Despite not converting either of his two hits into RBI, Marques Titialii has now hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games with 12 of those being multi-hit in composition. Jared Anderson did his damage early, a sacrifice fly in the first and a single in the second bringing in three Firestorm runs.

Harrison Howell (0.1 IP, 1 RA), one of eight relievers, earned his second win of 2024 while Jackson Hohensee (1.0 IP, 3 K) saved the day in the final frame for the second straight game.

ACU Key Players

Sean Garcia - .362 BA, 42 hits, 20 RBIs 
Kane Kiaunis - .359 BA, 61 hits, 48 RBIs
Andrew Ivy - .355 BA, 55 hits, 38 RBIs
Marques Titialii - .354 BA, 67 hits, 70 RBIs
Trey Tarver - .341 BA, 60 hits, 40 RBIs
Jared Anderson - .339 BA, 65 hits, 39 RBIs
Ryan Eastham - .330 BA, 38 hits, 34 RBIs
Jaylen Edmonds - .308 BA, 53 hits, 44 RBIs
Eli Elliott - 2.55 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 92 K
Adrian Santa Cruz - 4.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 82 K

Series Notes

Arizona Christian enters its first postseason matchup against Jessup with a 20-18 all-time record. The Firestorm won a home series (2-1) before being swept (3-0) in Lincoln, California. Runs were flowing in the season series' first two games (31), but relief trouble and several multi-run innings for the Warriors caused the previous four to slip away. Andrew Ivy had great success across the six contests, racking up 12 hits (four extra-base hits) and nine RBI. Jaylen Edmonds tripled in back-to-back games in the first three-game series, still the only ACU player to accomplish this feat. Eli Elliott started both series finales, and though the Firestorm lost both games, combined for 11.0 IP, four runs allowed and 13 strikeouts including a nine-strikeout performance at Greenway High School.

Thoughts From Coach Joe McDonald

"This is always an exciting time of year and we look forward to some great Firestorm postseason baseball," Coach McDonald said. "I love this team!"

Jessup

The Jessup University Warriors (36-9, 17-7 GSAC) fell five spots to 12th in the latest NAIA Top-25 Coaches' poll (April 24th) despite ending their regular season on a six-game win streak. Three players (James Williams, Bryce Petrilla, Trey Furrey) landed on the 2024 GSAC All-Conference Team. Notably, Furrey was named GSAC Player of the Year. 

The Trevor Paine-led Warriors posted an astounding 28-2 record at McBean Park and outscored Menlo 52-15 in their final GSAC series, in which they swept (3-0) the last-place Oaks. Chris Lopez, a former Oak, batted in nine runs (featuring two home runs) in the closing double header and Jessup exploded for a 13-run inning in Game 2 of the series. 

Entering the 2024 GSAC Baseball Tournament, Jessup posts a .336 BA (1st in GSAC), 6.18 ERA (4th in GSAC) and .967 FP (3rd in GSAC). Furrey is the top hitter (.510 BA, 79 hits, 50 RBI), Haliama Swartman the top pitcher (5.00 ERA, 1.46 ERA, 42 K) and Williams the top fielder (217 putouts, 19 assists, .996 FP).


Roll Storm!
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Players Mentioned

Ryan Eastham

#4 Ryan Eastham

C
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Eli Elliott

#8 Eli Elliott

P
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
Sean Garcia

#23 Sean Garcia

IF
5' 9"
Junior
L/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
Marques Titialii

#11 Marques Titialii

OF
6' 0"
Senior
R/R
Jared Anderson

#17 Jared Anderson

OF/1B
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Matthew Beckworth

#19 Matthew Beckworth

IF
5' 10"
Junior
L/R
Jaylen Edmonds

#3 Jaylen Edmonds

CF/SS
5' 10"
Junior
R/R
Harrison Howell

#27 Harrison Howell

P
6' 0"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Ryan Eastham

#4 Ryan Eastham

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
C
Eli Elliott

#8 Eli Elliott

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
P
Sean Garcia

#23 Sean Garcia

5' 9"
Junior
L/R
IF
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
Marques Titialii

#11 Marques Titialii

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
OF
Jared Anderson

#17 Jared Anderson

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
OF/1B
Matthew Beckworth

#19 Matthew Beckworth

5' 10"
Junior
L/R
IF
Jaylen Edmonds

#3 Jaylen Edmonds

5' 10"
Junior
R/R
CF/SS
Harrison Howell

#27 Harrison Howell

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
P