Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- No. 14 Biola Softball got back in its groove on Saturday afternoon as it dominated the visiting Embry-Riddle Eagles in two convincing victories, 6-2 and 11-3.
 
Biola combined fantastic pitching with timely and consistent hitting to find the formula for success as it improved to 4-0 on the season and dropped the visiting team to 0-4.
 
"The beauty of having four legitimately good pitchers is that when somebody is having a good day you can take advantage of that," said Head Coach Lorie Coleman. "Today we were able to mix around our pitching and it was a great fay for us."
 
Reba DePriest seemingly never has a bad day in the circle, and that was definitely true of her dominating outing in the Eagles' win in the opener. She went six full innings and logged 11 strikeouts as she kept Embry-Riddle's batters completely baffled, and in many cases unable to even take good-looking swings.
 
Her outing was backed up by great days at the dish from Anjie Amezquita, Kimmy Triolo and Ashley Spadt. Amezquita and Triolo each logged two hits, and the pair crossed the plate three time and drove in three more to help spot DePriest a six run lead within the first two innings. Spadt went 1-for-3 with a two-RBI double and a run scored.
 
"We're mixing around our lineup to see what works," said Coleman. "We've spent all four games with a different lineup to see which ones produced the most runs."
 
Both lineups worked out just dandy for Coleman and her staff on Saturday, as for the first time this season Biola earned a victory in a game shortened by the eight-run rule.
 
The Eagles won nine games via that rule last season, but with the influx of impressive new bats in the order could be primed to do even more of that this season.
 
Sisters Bria Madrid and Brooke Madrid again had a great offensive outing the nightcap, having themselves a whale of a ballgame in support of game two starter, Terri Van Dagens.
 
The not-quite, but almost, twins went a combined to go 5-for-8 with two runs scored and four RBI, accounting for more than half of Biola's runs. Brooke Madrid had her second multi-hit game of the young season, going bonkers in a 4-for-4 showing that upped her batting average to .429.
 
Also impressing at the plate in game two was Heather Hall, who continued her monumental run production by going 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. The junior infielder started the game 3-for-3 with a single, double, triple and chance for the cycle. She's been on fire to start the year, hitting .400, slugging .733 and leading the team with eight RBI.
 
While the offense continued to churn out runs, Van Dagens was throwing Embry-Riddle hitters for a loop with a deadly combination of speed and off-speed stuff. She rebounded from a difficult outing yesterday to go 5.2 innings of four-hit ball without allowing an earned run. She struck out four and walked none en route to her first win of the year.
 
The final blow came in the bottom of the sixth inning, where Biola produced three runs, and very well could've had more if not for the eight-run rule. A Bailey Dean single clinched the 11-3 win and sent everyone home smiling.
 
"Normally we depend on our defense, and yesterday we were not a good defensive team," said Coleman. "That was a goal, that we would clean it up a little, and today was a lot better. I think we will have a lot more run rule games if our defense stays strong."
 
After committing six errors in yesterday's action, Biola whittled it down to three in today's games, all of which came in the second game.
 
The Eagles' season continues next week as they head to Redding, California for the two-day, six-game, Simpson Tournament on Feb. 13-14.