GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Despite playing through a strong windstorm, No. 18 Biola University was able to breeze past Hope International with a pair of 9-0 wins on Tuesday afternoon at Freedom Field in La Mirada.
The Eagles improve to 19-7 on the season with their ninth win in their last 10 games, and are now 7-5 in GSAC play after starting 0-4. The Royals fall to 9-25 and 0-12 in the conference.
Senior Lindsay Nuckolls led the offense by going 5-for-6 on the day and improves her team-best batting average to .580 on the season. Nuckolls had a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Sophomore Kacie Lyding went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
After waiting out a brief storm that delayed the first pitch for 30 minutes, Biola didn't wait long to put its first runs on the board. After a one-out walk to Sarah Jensen, sophomore Keena Levert blasted her team-leading fourth home run of the season into the teeth of the 30+ MPH winds to put the Eagles up 2-0.
Biola broke the game open by sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs in the bottom of the third. Jensen and Nuckolls opened the inning with back-to-back doubles followed by an RBI-single by Levert.
Lyding drove home the third run of the inning with a one-out single and pinch-hitter Jacqie Hudson hit a sacrifice fly to score Holly Jackson. Hudson is playing in her first game with the team since Feb. 15 after suffering an injury to her arm.
Senior Amerra Kesterson, who finished the day going 3-for-7, drove home the final two runs of the third frame with an RBI-single to center.
Biola capped the scoring with an RBI-double by Krista Johnson in the bottom of the fourth. Johnson was 3-for-5 on the afternoon with three RBIs.
Senior pitcher Katie Gustaveson rebounded from a tough loss at Point Loma on Saturday with a four-hit shutout performance while striking out seven.
The Eagles didn't wait long to get on the board in the second game, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first. Nuckolls drove in the first run with a single followed by an RBI-dingle by Levert. Johnson then drove the pair home with a double to left field, scoring later in the inning on an error by the Royals.
Biola added three in the second as Levert hit a sacrifice fly and Lyding added an RBI-single down the left field line.
The Eagles closed out the scoring in the third as Jensen drove home Kesterson with a groundout after Kesterson led the inning off with a triple to left.
Tatiana Garcia picked up the win in game two, throwing three innings and allowing just three hits to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Biola improves to 10-0 at home in 2007 with the victory and heads into the second half of the conference schedule within striking distance of the top three in the GSAC.
The Eagles travel down to face Cal State San Marcos on Saturday (Mar. 31) in a non-conference doubleheader at Noon.
