George Rodriguez

Box Score

Erskine College ERSKINE 40-14

Biola University BU-SB 28-17

Erskine College ERSKINE

40-14

Final

May. 17, 2019

Biola University BU-SB

28-17

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Erskine College ERSKINE	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	0
Biola University BU-SB	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	0

W: Houge (20-6) L: Austin, Paige (14-7)

Game Recap: Softball | May 17, 2019

By The Erskine Of Their Teeth

Biola allows two late runs to come up just short in national title game.

BOTETOURT, Va. --- Biola Softball trailed for just two innings throughout the entire 2019 National Christian College Athletic Association World Series. The only snag is that it happened to be the final two innings of the whole enchilada. Erskine College won the title in a thrilling 2-1 game.

The Eagles struck first in the Championship Game vs. Erskine College as Andi Hormel walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie and set Biola up with a 1-0 lead behind a Paige Austin who was mowing batters down.

Austin did not give up a single piece of solid contact through her first five innings of work and had Biola destined to take home the trophy. Then, in the blink of an eye, Erskine got a lead-off infield single in the sixth and followed it up with a successful sacrifice bunt where Biola attempted to get the lead runner at second and could not convert.

That put two runners on with nobody out and brought up the top part of the Erskine batting order. A batter's interference call gave Biola its first out. Then it came down to Paige Austin battling the best hitter in the Flying Fleet lineup, Reagan Davis. The Eagles' sophomore stud worked ahead to get a two-strike count before Davis turned on one and hit a frozen rope to the wall in right-center field. It scored both base runners and put the Fleet ahead 2-1.

Austin would find her way out of any further trouble in the sixth and put up a scoreless top of the seventh to allow Biola its chance to walk it off with some offense in the bottom half of the final frame.

Unfortunately for the Eagles the 8-9-1 hitters in the lineup all managed hard contact on the ground, but the Erskine infielders made sound plays to set Biola down in order and end the game with a 2-1 lead.

Biola had just three hits in the championship game, which is the lowest total its had since managing just two base knocks against Concordia Irvine way back on Feb. 22.

Despite the low hit total Head Coach Nikki Udria's team still found a way to put pressure on Erskine's staff throughout the contest. The Eagles had runners in scoring position in the first, fourth and fifth innings and were hungry for more with one out to work with and the bases still loaded after Hormel's RBI walk. Unfortunately for Team 26 they stranded six runners on throughout the game, having a hard time finding gaps in the defense.

It was another brilliant performance from Austin, who went the entire contest and held Erskine to just four hits of their own - three of which didn't even leave the infield. She had seven strikeouts and just two walks. That's 40 Ks in the tournament.

Biola's hits, all singles, came from Ruth Munoz, Kayla Neff and Sicili Brittingham. Paige Austin and Areana Ramos were both named to the NCCAA All-Tournament team.

The season comes to a close with Biola finishing up 28-17. Thanks so much to the Eagles' five seniors and their families for all the contributions to the program over the years.

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