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Team huddle at softball
Richard Nguyen
4
Winner Biola BU-SB 17-5, 11-3 PacWest
3
Chaminade CUH-SB 3-8, 1-8 PacWest
Winner
Biola BU-SB
17-5, 11-3 PacWest
4
Final
3
Chaminade CUH-SB
3-8, 1-8 PacWest
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Biola BU-SB 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 4 7 1
Chaminade CUH-SB 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 7 0

W: Damas, Paula (4-1) L: Genera, Taylor (2-5) S: Austin, Paige (3)

Game Recap: Softball |

Neff, Meriales Power Game One Win

Kayla Neff and birthday girl Kiana Meriales spark 4-3 game one win at Chaminade.

WAIPAHU, Hawaii --- Nothing is coming easily to Biola Softball in this 2020 season, with now 12 of the team's first 22 games being decided by one run or less. The Eagles added another one-run win to their total, improving to 9-3 in such ballgames with a 4-3 win over Chaminade to open play on Tuesday.

It was another game where both teams began with a slow offensive start. Chaminade had three first-inning hits, including a one-out RBI double to take an early 1-0 lead. But, that'd be the only action for the home team until the bottom of the fifth inning as Paula Damas really settled down and held the Silverswords in check.

Biola answered back to that early Chaminade run in the top half of the fourth inning. Kayla Neff led off with a single, one of two hits for her in the game. She moved up to second on a wild pitch before head Coach Nikki Udria entered Loren Meza in to run for her at second base. 

A groundout moved Meza to third and then she scored on another ground out to the right side. It was a smart pinch-run as Meza's speed helped Biola capitalize and tie the game despite three consecutive outs ending the inning.
Biola kept the energy up on offense in their next chance at the bat rack. The Eagles hung a three-spot in the fifth to make it 4-1 following a Neff two-run single. Birthday girl Kiana Meriales, Jennifer Morinishi and Ruth Munoz all scored in the inning continuing the production from the 9-1-2 spots in the lineup.
 
That lead almost immediately began to disappear in the next half-inning as Chaminade put a whole lot of runners on base. They used a single and walk to get two on base, but a pair of fly outs made it look like Damas may escape unharmed.

A single through the left side hole brought one run home to make it 4-2 and force Udria to bring ace Paige Austin in off the bench.

Austin began with an 0-2 count against her first batter faced, but the 'Swords hitter worked all the way back to 3-2 by fouling off pitches and showing a good handle of the strike zone. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat they hit a ball through the left side to keep the inning going with the bases loaded and two outs.

A groundball through traffic made for a tricky throw from shortstop, which allowed all runners to be safe and tightened it to 4-3. The bases were still loaded and Austin had to dig a little deeper to get a groundout to second base and end the inning with Biola still on top.

The sixth was not productive for either side and Biola also went down quietly in their half of the seventh, setting up another intense bottom of the seventh. Last night, that inning was favorable for the hosting 'Swords, Austin and the Eagles were dead set on not seeing a repeat of that.

The junior ace got a groundout to begin the frame, but then a one-out single ramped up the pressure once again. However, Austin got back-to-back strikeouts looking to end the game and get Biola a 4-3 victory.

Both teams had seven hits in the game. Biola had two walks and surrendered three free base runners. The big difference is the Eagles did not strike out once throughout the game, while BU pitchers managed to set down seven 'Swords via the K, including those last two batters.
 
Neff played a major role in the victory, driving in her two RBI and also seeing the runner that resulted from her hit coming around to score a run. It was the senior's first multi-RBI game this season.

She and Kiana Meriales both had a pair of hits. Meriales began her birthday by reaching on every plate appearance with the two hits and a walk.

The win moves Damas to 4-1 this season. It was Austin's third save. Biola improves to 8-3 on this road trip and 16-5 overall. The Eagles are now 12-3 in conference play.

Game four of the series and game two of the doubleheader is set for a 9:10 p.m. PT start. Follow live audio of that game at https://www.meridix.com/channel/?liveid=ChaminadeU#/. Live stats are available at https://goswords.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
 
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