AZUSA, Calif. – Strong hitting and a complete-game effort from Garett King fueled California Baptist University to its biggest victory of the season. The Lancers went on the road and defeated Azusa Pacific, which is ranked number one and three in both major NCAA Division II polls, with a season-high 16 hits.

CBU posted a 6-1 win over their PacWest Conference rival Cougars at the Cougar Baseball Complex, out hitting its opponent 16-6. The Lancers improve to a 25-14 overall record, 16-9 in conference, while APU sees its five-game winning streak end and drops to 30-5, 17-4.

"Every game is supposed to be its own game, but when you come up against a good quality opponent like APU you want to rise and meet their level," King said. "It's your best against their best, and the team made some clutch plays in the field and got some big two-out hits. It was a good team win and I'm pretty pumped."

Both teams continue the series at Azusa Pacific Friday at 5 p.m., before coming back to Riverside for a series-ending doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon.

King limited APU, the most powerful offense in the PacWest, all game. The Cougars managed just nine base runners (six hits, three walks) and one run, while King struck out eight. After King started it, he was determined to finish it.

"I wanted to finish that game, I came in here and wanted that more than anything else," King said. "My stuff got better over the last few innings." 

Five Lancers collected multiple hits in the game, with true freshman John Glenn batting 4-for-5 with two runs batted in. Zack Norris, Luke Navigato, Bryce Macy and Tommy Bell all had two hits in the victory for CBU.

King did a good job of getting APU's leadoff batters out on Thursday. He picked up the first two outs in the first, second and fourth innings.

APU got on the board in the third, thanks to a walk and error, but King shut down a Cougar rally in the fifth. Azusa Pacific got its leadoff runner to single and steal second in the fifth, but King got a grounder, strikeout and fly ball to end the inning unscathed.

The Cougars were once again held in check by King, as their leadoff runners were retired in the sixth, seventh and eighth. Despite his pitch count being over the century mark through seven, King came back out and finished the game, with four strikeouts in the final two innings.

"I was just coming back into the dugout saying, 'I'm going back out, I want the ninth,'" King said. 

CBU got leadoff hits in four of the first five innings, and four hits led to two Lancer runs in the top of the first.  

Norris singled aboard to start the game and a Macy double moved him to third with one out. Glenn came up clutch with the two-out, two-run single into left field to give the Lancers a 2-0 lead right away. Macy padded the lead to 3-0, with a leadoff homer in the top of the third.

"I already had the lead, it's a different style of pitching, throwing in the zone and dictating contact," King said. "You're almost more aggressive because you're not afraid of giving up the lead on a solo home run." 

Even after their first two runners were retired, the Lancers found a way to add to their lead in the sixth. The two-out rally started with singles from Andrew Bash, Nick Plaia and a walk to Norris. Navigato provided the big blow of the inning with a single up the middle to score Bash and Plaia and up CBU's lead to 5-1.

A leadoff double from Glenn gave the Lancers another insurance run in the ninth. A walk to Ruhm and Alfredo Rodriguez single loaded the bases with one out and Plaia drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the run.