PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. --- Krista Johnson's grand slam powered Biola to a 7-5 win over Notre Dame College (Ohio), leading to a split of the Eagles' first two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Thursday in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Biola (6-3), which was ranked No. 20 in the preseason poll, was unable to hold a late lead in the second game of the day, falling 6-5 to No. 25 William Penn (Iowa). 

In the first game, the Eagles got off to a bit of a sloppy start, as a pair of errors open the door for Notre Dame College to score four runs in the top of the third to take an early 4-0 lead. Biola got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an error and a sacrifice fly by Lyndsie Roberts.

Biola broke the game wide open in the fourth, scoring six times to take a 7-4 lead. Jilian Storm plated the first run of the inning with a bases-loaded single, which was followed by a towering, grand slam home run by Johnson. After an infield out, Roberts followed that up with her second home run of the season, a solo shot to cap the scoring.

Notre Dame would add another run in the sixth, but would not threaten much beyond that. Erica Moyer pitched the final 3-1/3 innings to pick up the win in relief.

In the second game, Biola struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. Johnson opened the game with a single and reached second on a wild pitch. Lauren Gandy then followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Gandy stole second and the two runners each advanced another base on a wild pitch which scored the first run of the game.Roberts then drove in Gandy with a sacrifice fly for the second.

William Penn answered back with a pair or runs in the bottom of the second thanks to a leadoff homerun by Kara Atkins and another on an error by the Eagles. William Penn then added two more in the fourth inning off a Biola error and an RBI single by Tianna Helton to make it a 4-2 game.

BIola took back the lead in the top of the sixth inning with three runs. Keena Levert led off the frame with a single followed one out later by a single off the bat of Brittany Bury. Catcher Sara Smith then drove both runners in with a double to tie the game. She would eventually score on a single by Kacie Lyding to take the lead back.

It was short-lived, however, as a two-run single by Helton gave William Penn the lead back at 7-6. Biola would go down in order in the top of the seventh as WPU held on for the win.

The Eagles return to action on Friday with a pair of games, taking on Walsh University in the morning followed by No. 9 Olivet Nazarene in the afternoon.