LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The biggest Freedom Field crowd of the 2019 season was treated to an absolute thriller in game one of Saturday's Cornerstone Cup doubleheader between Biola and Azusa Pacific.

The Cougars ultimately ended up victorious by a 1-0 margin as Biola saw its hopes dashed in the bottom of the seventh inning as the final out of the game was made when the APU center fielder retired the potential game-tying run with a strong throw to home plate.

The teams were scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when APU got a two-out single to find a hole on the left side of the infield and score a runner from second base. Biola then had six offensive outs to try and find the tie or pull ahead.

Pinch hitter Caitlin Fowble did her best to start a seventh inning rally with a one-out single back up the middle. Another freshman followed her with another one-base hit as Madison Blossey found shallow left field to set up two on and one out for the Eagles' 8-9 hitters.

Jennifer Morinishi maintained Biola's aggressive aptitude that they had all throughout the seventh inning and swung at the first pitch. She lined out to shallow left field shifting the pressure onto the senior shortstop Andi Hormel.

Hormel turned a 1-2 pitch into a single to shallow center field. Riding high on the emotion of the one-run game Biola sent Fowble charging full speed around third base, but the solid throw from APU's Brielle Fraijo caught her at home plate by almost two steps.

It was an epic pitcher's dual from start to finish between Paige Austin and APU's Kat Ung. The two pitchers limited the lineups to just one extra-base hit and one walk. Austin hung seven strikeouts and no walks in a complete game effort. Ung picked up the win by keeping the Eagles off the board entirely and limiting the dangerous offense to just five singles.

Azusa Pacific improves to 18-13 (11-7 PacWest) with the win. Biola falls to 16-11 (11-6 PacWest) with the loss. It's the Eagles' first series-opening loss since the first week of March.

The two teams have one more game scheduled for Saturday April 6, with first pitch coming at 6:40 p.m. Tune in to watch the game live at portal.stretchinternet.com/biola.