LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The foot was on the gas pedal from day one in 2020 as Biola Softball looked to make some history in the second year under Head Coach Nikki Udria. The Eagles got 23 games into their spring season before the year was cut short due to COVID-19, but even with the early ending, there was nothing but joy to be found from those 23 contests!

Biola's year came to a close just after the team returned to California from its 12-game Hawaiian road trip. The Eagles had just gone 9-3 in Hawaii, taking 3-of-4 from all three PacWest Conference schools on the islands. After that trip, the team sat all alone atop the conference standings with a 13-3 PacWest Conference mark and seemed primed for a run at their first PacWest title.

"Although our season was cut short there are so many moments with Team 27 that bring me joy," said Udria. The off-the-field highlight was when five players got baptized in the fall. Then, the spring season was all business as the team was out to one of it's best starts in program history.

Biola was 2.5 games ahead of Concordia Irvine and one win better than the CUI Eagles in terms of overall record (18-5 to 17-5). CUI ended the year ranked No. 13 in the NFCA Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll. Biola was yet to be receiving votes in that poll, but the team's performance, both in the win-loss column and on the stat sheet, is sure to garner BU some respect headed into the 2021 season.

When all spring season competition was canceled on March 15, Coach Udria's team was just six days away from the first of four meetings slated with Concordia Irvine. It would've been a telling matchup as to who the favorite was to earn the 2020 PacWest Conference crown.

"Even though our season got cut short, we are all looking forward to what's to come," said sophomore utility player Jennifer Morinishi. "This year, we had an amazing group of girls and coaches that continued to create the culture we aspire for. I'm thankful that, despite the circumstances, we went out the way we did in Hawaii. The team worked really hard, and I know we are going to continue to elevate our game."

It was a thrilling beginning to the year, not just because of how much the Eagles were winning, but also because seemingly every game was competitive. Twelve of Biola's 23 games were decided by just one run. The Eagles were 9-3 in those one-run ballgames. The Eagles were 4-0 in games decided by a two-run margin.

"We had so much talent and chemistry as a team it was only a matter of time until the girls realized how good Team 27 really was," said Udria.

The shutdown pitching staff of Paige Austin, Paula Damas and Morinishi was a big reason Biola was able to be so successful in those close ballgames. The team ended the year with the second-best staff ERA in the conference (2.26) and its pitchers were among the conference individual leaders in many areas.

Austin was on track to lock up PacWest Conference Pitcher of the Year honors, leading the league with 10 complete games, 88.1 innings, three saves, 91 strikeouts and 12 wins. Her 12 victories was top-5 in all of NCAA Division II. Austin was also inside of the top-5 in starts (11), appearances (17), opponent's avg. (.194), hits-per-7-innings (4.83), strikeouts-per-7-innings (7.2) and WHIP (1.03).

Damas was having the best season of her four-year Biola career, setting new top stats in ERA (2.98), W-L pct. (4-1), K:BB ratio (20-14) and batting average against (.254). She will surely be missed on this staff as the Eagles build for their run at a title in 2021.

Morinishi was spending her time double-dipping between center field and the pitcher's circle. She logged 28.2 innings pitched, but where her presence was felt most was on the offensive side. The sophomore No. 2 hitter was building a very strong case for PacWest Conference Player of the Year honors when the season was called off. 

Through 23 contests, Morinishi was hitting .447, reached base at a .494 clip and led the team with a .671 slugging percentage. She was a doubles machine, hitting 14 two-baggers to finish the year one double off of Biola's NCAA Era single-season record (Kayla Neff - 15 - 2019). The Eagles still had 22 games (plus postseason) left on their schedule. So, she would've obliterated that mark and likely bested the all-time doubles mark of 23 (Crystal Roberts - 2002). Her batting average and OBP were both No. 1 in the Eagles' NCAA Division II era.

The sophomore led the conference in batting (.447), doubles (14), hits (34)and total bases (51). She was second to her teammate Kylie Velasco with 18 RBI and was also top-10 in runs (12) and homeruns. Her 14 doubles were tops in all of NCAA Division II, making her the statistical champion in that category for 2020.

Biola was hitting .292 as a whole with 182 hits, both of which were second in the league. Neff (.348), Velasco (.338), Ruth Munoz (.311) and Kiana Meriales (.309) all joined Morinishi in pacing the offense. 

Velasco's 19 RBI led the PacWest, and she was one of three Eagles with one homerun so far in the season to tie for the team-lead. Munoz and Morinishi were electric back-to-back at the top of the lineup with Morinishi compiling the 18 RBI and Munoz leading the team with 22 runs scored. 

Neff, the 2019 season and 2020 preseason conference player of the year, was trending upward at the right time, improving her batting average by .027 during the Hawaiian road trip. Perhaps her most memorable moment of the year was when she got plunked three times in one game at Hawaii Hilo, which is a program record. 

The Eagles had three walk-off wins in the young season, including run-rule walk-offs in both the regular-season opener and the PacWest Conference season opener. Ari Gonzales ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning to win Biola's first game of the season in 8-0 fashion against Stanislaus State at the Concordia Irvine Kick-Off Classic.

Another run-rule walk-off happened when Morinishi drove in Munoz to capitalize on back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fifth in an 8-0 win over ART U to open PacWest play.

The only true walk-off of the year came Feb. 29 in the most nerve-racking game of the year at Freedom Field. The Eagles trailed 4-1 to Concordia Portland in the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader as the team took its place for final at-bats. The Eagles began their rally with the 5-6-7 spot in the lineup, with Velasco and Sicili Brittingham reaching base early in the inning, but equating to just one run before the first two outs were made. Then, trailing 4-2 with one runner on and two outs, Biola got a single from Kiana Meriales, hit-by-pitch from Munoz and then an three-run walk-off double from Morinishi to get the win and improve to 8-2 overall.

"My favorite, but yet so stressful, win was our walk-off win against Concordia University Portland," said Udria. "The joy and celebration the team had is the reason they work so hard and why they play the game."

Two individual efforts stand out from the 9-3 Hawaiian road trip. The first was a 1-0 Biola victory over Hawaii Pacific that was powered by a 10-inning shutout from Austin. The junior staff ace set a career-high for innings pitched in a single outing, and worked under pressure for nearly the entire outing before a 10th-inning Meriales sacrifice fly made the difference in the game. 

Austin had to work around nine different HPU runners in scoring position to preserve the shutout win. That included a runner on third base with just one out as part of the international tie-breaker rule in the 10th inning. This outing was one of her five shutouts in 2020.

The other eye-popping individual effort on that trip came in what turned out to be the final game of the regular season. Brittingham, who came into the Hawaii trip with just a .115 season batting average, raised that by over .100 points thoughout the trip, highlighted by an astounding final game.

She helped the Eagles to a 3-0 win over Chaminade by going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. She hit her first career homerun, also had a double and played a perfect right field. She was the only Biola hitter with a four-hit game this season. She ended the campaign having reached safely in five consecutive games, which was the longest active streak.

"I am confident that if our season would have played out we would have been VERY happy with our results and found ourselves on our way to a NCAA regional," said Udria. "I am thankful that the NCAA and Biola have allowed for our players to have the decision to come back for the year that was lost and I am excited to see what the future holds for Biola Softball and Team 28! GO EAGLES!"

The future is quite bright for this Biola team, which will benefit from Kayla Neff and Haley Martinez both returning for a new senior year in 2021. Damas will be missed on the pitching staff, but BU can now bank on two more seasons with Austin and will see the debut of freshman Raylene Roybal in 2021. Roybal was nearing a return from injury when the season was cut short.