LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Softball has a few days to breathe after a very busy opening week before opening PacWest Conference play with the preseason PacWest favorites, Concordia Irvine, on Friday.

THIS WEEK: at Concordia Irvine (4-1) - Friday February 22 at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.; vs. Adelphi (N.Y.) (0-0) - Saturday February 23 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be provided free of charge for all Biola home contests. Information on live video and live stats made available for road games will be listed along with the previews of those games below.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. See ticketing information for road contests below each preview below.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: There was a lot of good and some not so good associated with Biola's eight-game week last week. The downside is that the Eagles ended up with five losses. The upside is that despite the losses there's a whole lot that's going right for the Eagles right now, including an offense that's showing signs of being the most productive Biola lineup in years (even with Areana Ramos still waiting to make her first appearance). Biola put up 46 runs during their home games vs. Hope International and six Cactus Classic games. Seven regular starters posted a weekly average of above .316 and Biola bopped 19 extra-base hits, including five homeruns. Unfortunately for Biola, the other teams scored a bunch too (47), which is why some of the games went opposite to what we were expecting. Pitching should be an area of strength for the Eagles this season, so expect that all to get worked out, especially once these games begin to mean more with conference contests starting this week. The important thing is that BU is getting serious production from up and down its lineup so far this year and features a dynamic offense with power, speed and the ability to place the ball where fielders are not. Biola hitters did strike out 26 times and walk just 14 during opening week, so look for some adjustments to be made there.

BIOLA (3-5) at CONCORDIA IRVINE (4-1): Friday Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. (DH) \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola and Concordia Irvine are expected to battle for the PacWest Conference title this season after CUI and BU were picked to finish 1-2 in the preseason conference coaches' poll. Biola lost all four meetings with Concordia Irvine last season, so to be able to compete with the Eagles of Irvine will be a great step for this budding NCAA Division II program. Biola will have to deal head-on with Callie Nunes, who is one of the best pitchers in all of Division II and threw her third career no-hitter last week. Biola faced Nunes for 16 innings last season in two of the four games. She held the Eagles to just four hits and one run spread across those 16 innings, winning both games with complete game performances. Both of the games were competitive as BU also got fantastic pitching, making it tough for CUI. Concordia won 2-1 and 3-0 in Nunes' two games needing nine innings for one of those wins. CUI controls the all-time series against Biola with a 65-29-1 overall record. Concordia comes into this weekend's series with wins in its last four ballgames after suffering a season-opening loss to Northwest Nazarene. They have not shown the tremendous power that CUI teams have been known for, hitting just two homeruns and 10 total extra-base hits through their first five contests. Returning all-conference player Amanda Gjertsen will drive the offensive effort. She's already off to a great start to the year with six hits (3 doubles), seven RBI and a .563 on-base percentage (2 BB, 1 HBP). Concordia hosts Adelphi for a doubleheader on Tuesday and single game on Wednesday before drawing the Eagles on Friday.

CONCORDIA IRVINE TICKETING INFORMATION | CUI CAMPUS MAP

BIOLA (3-5) vs. ADELPHI (N.Y.) (0-0): Saturday February 22 at 2 p.m. (DH) \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
This will be the first all-time meeting between the Eagles and Panthers. Adelphi is out west to escape some of the crazy weather that comes with trying to play outdoor sports in the winter in the Northeast. The Panthers play three games with Concordia Irvine early this week, then hit Azusa Pacific for a doubleheader on Friday before finishing their trip with Biola on Saturday. If all goes well the Panthers will have five games under their belts in the three days right before playing at the Eagles. Adelphi had its first four games of the season canceled, forcing a late start with this road trip. The team was 32-21-1 last season and went 17-7-1 in Northeast 10 conference play, finishing tops in their division and third overall in their conference. They won the NE10 tournament to advance to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship where they went 2-2 before being eliminated by LIU Post. The Panthers enter this year under first-year head coach Carla Campagna. Campagna, fittingly, was the assistant coach at LIU Post for the last six years. Adelphi was picked to win their division again and finish fourth overall in the NE10 preseason poll. Adelphi has a major hole to fill this year following the departure of the most decorated player in their program's history, Brenna Martini. They've got a 2019 roster with just 13 active players.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: In its first week of competition Biola Softball managed to win two of the three PacWest Conference Weekly awards! Kylie Velasco was selected as conference player of the week after hitting .357 with three doubles, two homeruns and a team-best nine RBI last week while starting every game at second base and hitting in the two-hole in the lineup. It's her first career conference award. Jennifer Morinishi took home conference freshman of the week honors after wowing in the field, batter's box and in the circle in the first week of her collegiate career. Morinishi hit .333 with three doubles, seven RBI and nine total hits while serving as the Eagles' leadoff batter. She alternated her time between the outfield and pitching circle, all the while maintaining her spot in the order. She had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on six chances and went 1-1 while striking out 16 and walking just six.

THE BATS WORK: Through one week of competition it's clear that this Biola team is going to be able to score some runs this season. There was only one time in the eight games Head Coach Nikki Udria's team played last week where the offense was unable to get off the ground (7-1 loss to SFU). The Eagles are hitting .316 as a team through their first eight games, which is second-best in the PacWest Conference. Dominican is the only team topping the Eagles, hitting .363 as a team in high scoring wins over Menlo and Notre Dame de Namur to start their year. The Eagles' 46 runs scored is also the third-most among conference schools. The two teams ahead of BU have played either 14 games or eight games. Biola's hitters have combined for 19 extra-base hits in the first eight games. That's second only to Hawaii Hilo (23). The Vulcans have hit nine homeruns already this year. Kylie Velasco is tied with two Hawaii Hilo players for the conference lead in RBI (9) and she and Jennifer Morinishi are both just one off the pace in doubles (3). The Eagles have accomplished all of this without their best hitter in the lineup, Areana Ramos, who's missed the first week due to injury. The team is hopeful for a return this week. One potential area of concern on offense has been the Eagles' patience at the plate. They're in the bottom half in the conference in OBP (.361) and their -12 margin in strikeouts to walks is the fourth-worst in the PacWest.

RECORD WATCH: Last season, Areana Ramos hit nine homeruns which was more than double her previous single-season best. It was just two homeruns shy of the program's single-season homerun record held by Lyndsie Roberts (2011). If she gets the big fly working early on this year, look for her to be able to make a push for that mark. Her 15 career homeruns is 11 behind the program record of 26. So, if it happens, her 12th homerun would break both the single-season and career mark. The PacWest had three players with at least 12 homeruns last season. Ramos is also in the top-5 in career slugging percentage. She's had 38 extra-base hits in her career and enters the year with a .549 slugging percentage. The program record is Amerra Kesterson's (.631). Kesterson played for BU from 2004-07. Paige Austin held opponents to just a .196 batting average last season. It's just the third time in program history a pitcher has held batters to a mark under .200. No Biola pitcher has ever had two such seasons. Austin has a chance at being the first to accomplish that this year. Andi Hormel spent a lot of time icing her first two seasons at BU. She was hit by 23 pitches during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. That mark slowed a bit with just three HBP last year. But, if she finds her way on base via plunking at least four times this season, she'd become the third player in program history with 30+ hit-by-pitch bases. Kayla Neff comes into the year just two sacrifice flies shy of the all-time record of nine. She had five SF last year and should be able to pass record-holder Selina Sherlin (9) this year.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:
Hailey Boyett - 150 Games Played (114)
Hailey Boyett - 100 Hits (83)
Hailey Boyett - 300 Putouts (261)
Hailey Boyett - 50 RBI (51)
Andi Hormel - 150 Games Played (154)
Andi Hormel - 100 Hits (104)
Andi Hormel - 300 Assists (270)
Kayla Neff - 100 Hits (92)
Kayla Neff - 500 Putouts (457)
Kayla Neff - 50 RBI (52)
Missy Poti - 300 Putouts (294)
Areana Ramos - 150 Games Played (135)
Areana Ramos - 100 Runs Scored (71)
Areana Ramos - 150 Hits (119)
Areana Ramos - 30 Doubles (21)
Areana Ramos - 20 Homeruns (15)
Areana Ramos - 200 Putouts (148)
Areana Ramos - 30 Outfield Assists (26)

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Biola has a brand new coaching staff this season as Head Coach Nikki Udria begins her first season at the helm for BU. Along with Udria is assistant Justine McLean. Though young, the staff has a wealth of big-time experience as Udria and McLean have NCAA Division I roots (Oregon/Florida). Udria was on the staff last year as an assistant coach under Lorie Coleman, taking over for Janie Takeda who took a job at the University of Oklahoma. Udria played four years at the University of Oregon before graduating in 2017. She led the Ducks to four postseason appearances and three Pac-12 Championships while earning major accolades all four years of her career. In 2017 she was an NFCA NCAA Division I First Team All-American. McLean is from Rancho Cucamonga, but she played her college ball for the Florida Gators the same time Udria was at Oregon. McLean earned All-SEC honors and made the Women's College World Series all-tournament team, while helping the Gators to a 229-36 overall record between 2014-17. The Gators won the Women's College World Series her freshman and sophomore seasons. In addition to their regular coaching duties, both regularly host camps/clinics throughout the year. View those at this camp link.

NEXT WEEK: at Holy Names (1-2) - Thursday & Friday Feb. 28 - March 1 at 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.