AZUSA, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University saw No. 23 Azusa Pacific get two Osvaldo Tovalin home runs to lead APU to a 6-2 PacWest Conference victory on Friday at the Cougar Baseball Complex.
 
The Sharks (16-12, 3-9) suffered their ninth straight loss, while the Cougars (14-9, 4-2) collected their second straight win.
 
Sophomore third baseman Micah Layosa of Lihue, Hawai'i/Kauai paced the Sharks offense, going 2-for-4 at the plate with his first home run of the season. Junior left fielder Jake Selco of West Hills, Calif./El Camino Real also was 2-for-4. Junior Matt Tsutomi of Pearl City, Hawai'i/Pearl City was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Senior lefty Joshua Muneno (2-3) of Honolulu/Maryknoll was tagged for the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits – including three home runs – while striking out five in 4.1 innings. Senior righthander Christian Miller of Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap allowed a run without a hit with a walk and a strikeout in 2.1 innings. Senior Ryan Sanchez of Atwater, Calif./Atwater finished the game, with a strikeout and one hit in an inning and a third.
 
APU got a double in the bottom of the first, then Tovalin got the first of his four RBIs on a single for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Sharks answered it in the top of the second when Layosa crushed his first homer of the year to right field to tie the game at 1-1.
 
But in the bottom of the third, the Cougars got a man on in front of Tovalin who belted a 0-1 pitch over the right field fence to give APU a 3-1 lead. The Cougars added one more run in the fourth on a two-out homer from Tido Robles also to right.
 
The Sharks cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth. After Layosa reached on an error and advanced to third on a single, Tsutomi got an RBI single through the left side to score Layosa.
 
But Tovalin came up in the bottom of the fifth for APU and crushed his second home run of the day and ninth of the season to push the Cougar lead to 5-3.
 
HPU threatened in the sixth as senior first baseman Christian Kapeliela of Kaneohe, Hawai'i/Castle singled and advanced to second with two out. Layosa ripped a single to left and Kapeliela tried to score from second but was gunned out at the plate.
 
APU added a final tally in the seventh, loading the bases with two out with two hit batsmen and an intentional walk to Tovalin. A wild pitch then allowed the Cougars to send the score to 6-2.
 
James Acuna (1-2) picked up his first win for the Cougars, striking out three and allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits with two walks in six innings. Tripp Aversa got his first save, working three innings with four strikeouts and three hits.
 
The Sharks conclude their 10-day, eight-game southern California road trip on Saturday as the face the No. 23 Cougars in a doubleheader at Cougar Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 9 a.m. HST (Noon PDT).