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Scoreboard

Paula Damas pitching
George Rodriguez
1
Academy of Art AAU-SB 1-10
2
Winner Biola University BU-SB 5-2
Academy of Art AAU-SB
1-10
1
Final
2
Biola University BU-SB
5-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Academy of Art AAU-SB 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Biola University BU-SB 0 0 0 0 2 0 X 2 8 0

W: Damas, Paula (2-0) L: Lopez, Cecilia (0-4) S: Austin, Paige (1)

Game Recap: Softball |

Dominant Day One

Biola closes out its doubleheader vs. Academy of Art with a 2-1 win.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Game two had a totally different flavor from the opener of the Biola - Academy of Art series. The Eagles completed the daily sweep of ART U with a 2-1 win behind dominance from Paula Damas and Paige Austin.

"It's tough when you come and mercy a team to come back and have the same intensity," said Head Coach Nikki Udria. "I'm proud of them for pulling out the win. I was glad to see up pull through. A win is a win."

Unlike their scoreless first game, Academy of Art struck first in this game. After Damas put up back-to-back hitless innings to start the game, Bethany Mitchell led-off the third inning with a single up the middle to get things going for ART U.

Two batters later, a triple from the ART U leadoff batter put them up 1-0 and had Biola trailing in a game for the first time in three weeks.

That score held for a bit as both pitchers traded effective innings. Damas put up a particularly effective frame in the fourth inning when she needed only four pitches to work around ART U's hitters and bounce back from the run allowed in the previous inning.

"Paula did a good job of keeping her pitch count down and kept them off-balance," said Udria.

It took awhile for Biola to answer back, but when it finally did the production came courtesy some familiar faces. The Eagles found the equalizer and the go-ahead run in the fifth inning when they chipped away at a new relief pitcher for ART U. 

A one-out hit-by-pitch drawn by Kiana Meriales is what began the Eagles' fifth-inning rally. ART U looked to keep the good times rolling as they nabbed the lead runner on the next play to set up two outs in the inning with just a runner on first for BU.

Ruth Munoz made that one runner count as she hit the ball to the base of the fence in right-center field for an RBI triple.
 
That was followed up by a Jennifer Morinishi double to put Biola on top.

"It was really exciting to get on the field and play finally. It was fun to see all the hard work we put in during practice really show up during the games," said Morinishi.
 
Immediately after taking the lead, Udria went to the bullpen and brought Austin out to slam the door. The Eagles' junior ace did just that. After throwing five sparkling innings in the opener, Austin had a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh to record her first save of the year.
 
"Game two was a little frustrating because we were not quite getting the same results and same timing on our hits, but I think it showed we could focus down and capitalize on the little things," said Morinishi.

Morinishi followed up her stellar game one with a solid game two, having two of Biola's eight hits in the game and, of course, driving in the game-winning run. She was the only Eagle with more than one hit in the nightcap as BU saw seven different players get in on the action with a base knock.

It was both Morinishi and Munoz as the 1-2 hitters at the top of the lineup that really set the tone and produced runs for BU as they've done with consistency all season long.

"Ruth and I have fun. It's always a competition between us," said Morinishi. "I told her she had to get a triple in this game, she did. I was hoping to one-up her with a homer, but it didn't quite get there."

Morinishi's RBI double went as far as a ball can go on the fly and not be a homerun at Freedom Field. She hit it on a line to left-center and it struck the red piping at the top of the outfield fence before popping back into play.

The Eagles improve to 5-2 (2-0 PacWest) with the win. ART U falls to 1-10 (0-2 PacWest). The two teams have a 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. doubleheader scheduled for Saturday. Keep an eye on athletics.biola.edu and @BiolaAthletics on Twitter for updates regarding weather and game times.
 
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