Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AZUSA, Calif. --- Things are beginning to fall into place with this 2017 Biola Softball team. Getting a chance to see the Eagles go up against some top flight NCAA Division II competition in Azusa Pacific on Tuesday evening was a great barometer against which to measure this team.
 
The Eagles earned a split with the Cougars, dropping the first game 4-0 before coming from behind to win game two 4-3. The win in game two lifted Biola to its first win over APU since April of 2011. The perennially nationally ranked Cougars had won 16 meetings in a row.
 
"Not only did we snap the streak, but we beat a team that will be a top opponent for us in division II next year," said senior pitcher Kimmy Triolo. "I am hoping these girls realize who they are, and the potential that we have as we move into the NCAA."
 
There wasn't a whole lot to talk about from the first game. There were two fantastic starting pitching performances on both sides and not a whole lot of offense.
 
Azusa Pacific scored all of the four runs in the game with two outs in the bottom of the second. Triolo was on point for the rest of the game, pitching a complete game and allowing just two hits and zero runs outside of the inning.
 
The only problem in that game was that APU's Carly Xepoleas was even more in the zone. She held the Eagles to four hits in the game and kept them off the board by never allowing them more than one hit in any single inning. She also struck out eight Eagles while walking none.
 
Maranda Galindo had a great game, reaching base in all three of her plate appearances with two singles and a triple. She also stole a base and was responsible for three defensive outs at second base.
 
Even though the game was a loss it showed the Eagles' ability to shut down its opponents' offenses. APU scored double-digits in two of its first five ballgames of the year, so four runs on four hits was a positive sign for BU.
 
Biola was able to keep the Cougars' offense limited in game two also, but it took quite the balancing act to keep them to that low total though as APU had 13 base runners in the second half of the doubleheader.
 
The offense began almost immediately against Kaile Chavez in the bottom of the first inning. Azusa Pacific had four batters in a row reach base after a quick first out. They reached on three singles and a walk, which resulted in an early run.
 
A Chavez strikeout made the second out of the inning before another run came around to score after an error. A heads-up play by Andi Hormel cut-off a second runner at home plate to end the inning and keep the scoring to just two. This would prove critical as the game ended later with just a one-run differential.
 
Biola's offense finally got things going in the third inning, scoring all of its four runs in the frame. Paula Damas, in the lineup as the designate player, ledoff the inning with a single, which was Biola's first hit of the game.
 
Haley Martinez pinch ran for her and stole a base, one of three stolen bases in the game for BU. A Galindo single advanced her to third, and then Maranda stole second herself to make it a threatening no-out situation for APU.
 
A walk loaded the bases for Selina Sherlin, which is always dangerous for opponents. She singled to push home the Eagles' first run before the first out of the inning. Then, after a strikeout, Hormel stepped in and the sophomore shortstop smacked a two-run single into the right field gap to give Biola its first lead of the day.
 
The lead was extended to two with a Hailey Boyett two-out RBI single. The single would prove to be the game's winning hit.
 
After Chavez got into a jam in the fifth inning she was lifted in favor of Damas. Damas came in with the bases loaded and one out and got a popout and groundout to end the inning with no damage done.
 
She'd allow a walk and an RBI double in the next inning, which would tighten the game to one and force Head Coach Lorie Coleman to go to game one starter, Triolo, with the game on the line, a runner in scoring position and just one out.
 
The senior got a lineout and a ground out to end the threat and set the Cougars down in the bottom of the seventh, stranding the game-tying run on third base to pick up her first save of the season.
 
"I was just trying to carry the momentum [of my performance] from the first game and stay in the same mindset going into that inning," said Triolo. "Paula and Kaile did a great job holding them down and I was just trying to keep it going."
 
It was a huge win for the program and proved this team is ready to compete with the strongest programs at the next level.
 
Biola handed Azusa just its second loss of the season while improving to 2-3-1 in its own schedule. The Eagles are next in action for a home doubleheader with Lewis & Clark (Ore.) on Friday.