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Paige Austin hurling
George Rodriguez

Game Recap: Softball |

Heart Racer Turns To Heartbreaker

Biola and Concordia compete step-for-step all game before CUI pulls ahead in 9th.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The pitching matchup of game one of Thursday's Senior Night doubleheader was just as good as it was expected to be, and it may have been even better than we thought. Biola's Paige Austin and Concordia's Callie Nunes matched each other pitch-for-pitch through eight full innings before No. 12 Concordia scored an unearned run to pull ahead 3-2 in the ninth and win the ball game.

Concordia scored once in the second and another in the third to go up 2-0 on the Eagles. Biola answered right back with one of its own in the bottom of the third courtesy a Missy Poti sacrifice fly. It was great to get the run off Nunes, but it left Biola wanting more after having loaded the bases with nobody out in that inning and only scratching across one run.

After that quick bunch of scoring both pitchers found themselves locked in. Nobody could get anything across, and neither team could hardly manage a base runner as the game held at 2-1 into the seventh.

Austin set down the CUI hitters in order in the top half of the seventh to give her teammates the chance to go for the tie, or the win, in the bottom half.

Head Coach Nikki Udria began the inning with back-to-back pinch hitters in the 7-8 spots in the lineup. Both put in good at-bats, but neither could find their way on base, putting all the pressure on Jennifer Morinishi.

The freshman found her way on base with a single tot the left side of the infield, setting up Kayla Neff and the top of Biola's lineup for something special.

Neff was hit by a pitch and then Ruth Munoz reached on an error by the CUI second-baseman to load the bases with two outs for the senior, Areana Ramos.

All the while Biola's batters were watching a ton of pitches looking to take advantage of Nunes' newfound struggles to find the zone. Ramos was patient
too, and it paid off with her working a game-tying, six-pitch walk.

That put Missy Poti in the spotlight as she came up with the game-winning run just 60 feet away from home plate. With a 2-1 count Poti hit Biola's hardest hit ball of the game, but it went straight on a line into the glove of the CUI third baseman to send the game into extra innings.

Austin and Nunes both had 1-2-3 innings in the eighth, with Austin striking out the last two batters she saw to up her tally to nine for the game.

Austin got a groundout and strikeout to begin the top of the ninth, but a two-out walk would go on to prove costly. A single made it runners on first and second for Concordia and upped the pressure just a bit.

It looked as if the Eagles' sophomore hurler had gotten out of the jam when she induced a weak ground ball to second base. Unfortunately, the ball stuck in Kylie Velasco's glove and forced her to rush a throw to first that would ultimately get past Missy Poti and allow CUI's lead runner to score.

That put the pressure back to BU's offense headed into the bottom of the ninth with Nunes working with about 150 pitches under her belt at that point.

The first two batters were set down in order, but Kayla Neff hit a two-out single and made it to second on a wild pitch, giving Biola a realistic chance to tie it again.

Ruth Munoz worked ahead in the count to 2-1, but when she did swing and make contact she just missed barreling up and popped out to third base to end the game in favor of Concordia.

Biola got five hits off Nunes and made her work hard with a pair of walks and pair of hit-by-pitches, but ultimately BU found itself unable to come through in some of the most critical RBI situations, stranding nine runners throughout the game.

It spoiled a fantastic outing for Austin where she straight up out-pitched the popular pick for NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year.

Austin threw over 160 pitches, facing 37 batters in a lineup that doesn't have much in terms of any significant weak spots. She limited CUI to six hits while striking out 10 and walking only three.

The win improves Concordia to 41-6 overall and 24-6 in PacWest Conference play. With the tough-luck loss, Biola falls to 23-14 and 18-9 in conference.

The two teams have the second half of the doubleheader at just about 7:15 p.m. Thursday. It's the final game at Freedom Field this year.

Follow the game live at portal.stretchinternet.com/biola.
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