AZUSA, Calif. --- Biola's defense struggled against one of the hottest teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference, leading to a doubleheader sweep as Azusa Pacific University won 11-3 in five innings and 8-5 in the nightcap on Thursday afternoon.

The Eagles end the regular-season with a record of 27-25 and finish fourth in the GSAC with an 8-12 record. The suprising Cougars move into second place in the GSAC with the doubleheader sweep, improving to 30-18 and to 14-6 in the conference with their 10th wins in their last 11 games.

Biola held leads in both games, but sloppy defense allowed the Cougars extra outs and they took full advantage. 

In the first game, the Eagles got a quick pair of runs in the top of the first. Lauren Gandy led off with single, stole second and came around to score on an APU error. After the Eagles loaded the bases with two out, Vanessa Coleman drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the second run of the inning. 

Biola added a third run in the second. Chelsea Limm led of with a double, moved to third on a single by Jillian Storm, and scored on an RBI groundout by CeCe Luster.

But Azusa Pacific quickly took over the game in the bottom of the inning, tying the game with a three-spot as the first eight batters of the inning reached base. Things went from bad to worse in the fourth as APU scored six runs on just two hits, benefitting from three Biola errors to take a commanding 9-3 lead. 

The Cougars would end the game early with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of two more errors to record the run-rule victory. 

Biola committed a season-worst seven errors in the first game as just four of the 11 APU runs were earned. 

In the second game, the Eagles again went on top early with three runs in the top of the first. Storm led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Gandy. Luster then picked up her third RBI of the day with a single to center to make it 1-0. Lyndsie Roberts followed with a single and an error loaded the bases with one out. Kristin Larson and Celina Thornton then each drove home a run with a single to give Biola a 3-0 lead.

After Azusa picked up a run in the bottom of the first, Biola quickly got it back with an unearned run in the second as Shaylynn Weststeyn drove home Gandy with a two-out double. 

The Cougars tied the game in the third, scoring three runs in the inning--two of which came on a fielding error by the Biola outfield. 

However, the Eagles would go back in front on the top of the fourth, manufacturing a run the way they have much of the year. Storm led the inning of with a walk, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch. Luster then drove her in with a ground out and Biola was back up 5-4. 

The Eagles would fight off a few APU scoring chances in the fourth and fifth, but the Cougars finally broke through in the sixth. Bekah Weisser doubled home the tying run with two out in the sixth and another Biola error allowed three more runs to score in the inning as APU went in front for good.

The three Biola errors in game two allowed four unearned runs to cross the plate and saddled Luster with the loss, dropping her to 12-10 on the season.

Weststeyn suffered the defeat in game one, falling to 7-7 overall.

Biola returns to action next week, opening the GSAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Eagles will play No. 5 seed Vanguard University in a one-game playoff with the winner facing off against top-seeded California Baptist University in a best-of-three series. All off the games will be played at California Baptist University with the one-game playoff starting at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday with the first of the three-game series immediately following. Game two and a third game (if necessary) would be played on Wednesday.

No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific University will host the other side of the bracket as No. 3 Concordia will play No. 6 Hope International in the one-game playoff. The winners of the two best-of-three series will play a best-of-three on Thursday and Friday to determine the GSAC Tournament Champion.