LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola picked up a big GSAC doubleheader sweep over arch-rival and No. 17-ranked Azusa Pacific University in a tale of two different games, winning 16-10 in the first and 2-1 in extra innings in the second at Eagles Diamond on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles improve to 10-4 overall and move to 4-3 in conference play while dropping the Cougars to 8-8 and 1-7 in the GSAC.

The games seemed like two completely different games with offense ruling the first and pitching and defense dominating the second.

In game one, Biola jumped all over Azusa Pacific taking a 10-0 lead after just two innings of play. The Eagles starting off their half of the first with a single by Boone Farrington and a double by Garrett Leon to put two in scoring position with none out. Vinnie Fayard and Mac Sullivan each hit RBI-ground outs to short to plate the first two runs of the contest.

In the second, Biola blew the doors open, sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring eight runs against three different APU pitchers. Starter Ryan Rosenhahn allowed the first five batters of the inning to reach with Farrington providing the big blow, a bases-loaded double to score the first two runs of the inning.

After a new pitcher was brought on, Fayard welcomed him with a two-run single followed by a walk to Sullivan. That would be the only two batters Joe Karlik would face as Scott Sakoda was brought on to stop the bleeding. But he would allowed back-to-back run-scoring singles to Trevor Blood and Brent Opdyke to put Biola up 9-0. The Eagles would add one final run on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Bodemer.

Azusa Pacific answered back with one run in third, but wound up stranding runners on the corners. Biola scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the third only to see the Cougars score four in the fourth to make it a 12-5 game.

But the Eagles were able to score two more runs in the fourth on a two-run double by Sullivan to provide some much-needed breathing room as APU wasn't finished. The Cougars scored five times in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate and chasing Biola starter Dale Harder.

Harder surrendered hits to the first two Cougar batters of the inning and was removed for lefty Justin Rodriguez. The senior got the first two outs quickly, allowing just one run on a groundout, but got into trouble a bit later. After a walk, Rodriguez allowed back-to-back singles, then walked home a run to make it 14-8.

Biola then brought on Karl Stuck, who received a rude welcome from pinch-hitter Daniel Gonzales, who drove home a pair with a single to left-center. Stuck stopped the bleeding by coaxing an infield pop-up off the bat of Chavira, but the Cougars had pulled back within four at 14-10.

The Eagles would add two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Fayard and Phil Blazek and received another incredible pitching performance by junior Kyle Atkins to close the game out. Atkins tossed the final three innings, scattering just two hits against the potent APU lineup to earn his second save in as many games.

Harder was able to secure his first Biola victory, despite allowing seven runs on 12 hits over five innings. Rosenhan suffered the loss, his first of the season, giving up seven runs--six earned--and lasting just one inning.

The lopsided pitching numbers were noticeably in the second game of the twinbill as the two teams engaged in pitcher's duel which needed extra innings to decide.

With the score tied at one in the bottom of the eighth, Leon led off the frame with a double down the left-field line. Fayard, who already had five hits on the day, was intentionally walked and Christopher Neal successfully moved the pair over with a sacrifice bunt.

After an intentional walk to Brian Loard, Azusa Pacific brought on a new pitcher--Michael Oeser-- to face Benji Sutherland. But the move did not pay off as planned as Oeser's first pitch hit Sutherland, forcing home the winning run.

Atkins ended up with the victory in the second game, tossing a scoreless 1-2/3 innings for the Eagles. He improves to 1-0 on the season. Ruben Diaz suffered the loss for APU, dropping to 0-2.

Azusa Pacific struck first in the game with a run in the top of the second. Brice Cutspec led the frame off with a double and came around to score on a single by Jason Plowman. However, despite the first three batters of the inning reaching by hits, O'Neill worked out of the jam with a strikeout and two popouts.

The Cougars would put two runners on in each of the next three innings, but could not push across another run. Biola, on the other hand, was finally able to get a run in the fifth to tie the game. Bodemer opened the frame with a double and scored on a single by Armando Arzate.

Things got a bit dicey for Biola in the top of the seventh as the Cougars put runners at second and third with two out and Josh Leite at the plate. Leite, who has seven home runs already this season, lifted an Atkins offering into deep right field, but Blood made an easy catch before crashing into the wall to end the inning.

Fayard was the hitting star on the day for Biola, going 5-for-8 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Leon was 4-for-7 while Arzate collected four hits in eight at-bats from the No. 9 spot.

Biola has now taken three of four games from the Cougars in the regular season for the last two years and has seven of the last 10 against its arch-rivals overall.

The Eagles head back on the road for their next GSAC series, heading to Santa Barbara to take on Westmont (5-11, 1-5 GSAC) in the first two games of a four-game series. The games begin at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday at the Warriors' new ballpark on-campus.

Biola's Bobby O'Neill was impressive, allowing just one run on nine hits over 6-1/3 inning