GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE
SAN DIEGO --- Pitching and solid defense helped No. 18 Biola University pull out a stunning 3-1 win over No. 5 Point Loma Nazarene in the second game of a GSAC doubleheader after falling 2-0 in the opener on Saturday afternoon at Sunset Clifts Park in San Diego.
The victory in game two improved Biola's record to 17-7 on the season and 5-5 in the conference while dropping Point Loma to 19-3 and giving the Sea Lions their first conference loss (7-1).
Sophomore pitcher Emily Gray allowed one run on five hits over 6-2/3 innings in game two to earn the victory and improve to 7-2 on the season.
Senior Tatiana Garcia came in and got the final out in dramatic fashion. Garcia entered the game with runners at first and second base with two outs and Amanda Addie, one of the GSAC's best hitters, coming to the plate. Addie slapped a hard ground ball past the diving third baseman Krista Johnson, but shortstop Keena Levert was there to make a diving stop and then beat the runner to the third base bag with another great dive.
It was the second time in the game that Addie was robbed of a hit by a great defensive play as second baseman Lindsay Nuckolls made an amazing diving stop behind second base and crawled over to second to beat the runner to the bag.
Biola's defense and pitching held the Sea Lions off the board most of the day, but the offense came through in the clutch to lead the Eagles to the win.
Biola got on the board first with a run in the top of the first. Junior first baseman Sarah Jensen drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a single by Nuckolls. Levert then drove her in with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Biola added another run in the fifth inning, benefiting from a Point Loma miscue to score Erin DaSilva, who reached on a one-out single to left.
The Sea Lions got a run back in the sixth on an RBI-single by Jessica Hibma. Hibma, the GSAC's second-leading hitter, was relatively quiet on the day, going 1-for-6.
The Eagles would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh on another Point Loma error. Amerra Kesterson reached base with a two-out single, then scored as a single to right by Jensen skipped under the glove of the rightfielder.
After recording the first two outs with relative ease, Gray got into a bit of trouble allowing a single and walk to the Sea Lions before Garcia came in to close out the game.
While the Eagles were able to escape with the victory in game two, they had little success against KC Robertson in game one.
Robertson allowed just two hits and struck out four to improve to 9-1 on the season. The two hits came off the bat of Nuckolls, who was 3-for-5 on the day, raising her average to a team-best .545.
Senior Katie Gustaveson took the tough loss allowing just one earned run on seven hits over six innings while striking out four.
The game one loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Eagles, who have now won seven of the last eight games.
The win in game two was the first victory for Biola at Point Loma since a 3-2 win during the 2002 season.
The Eagles return to GSAC play on Tuesday as they host a doubleheader against Hope International on Tuesday (Mar. 27) beginning at 2:00 p.m. at Freedom Field.
