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SB celebration shot
0
Northwest Nazarene NNU 0-1
3
Winner Biola BU-SB 1-0
Northwest Nazarene NNU
0-1
0
Final
3
Biola BU-SB
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Northwest Nazarene NNU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Biola BU-SB 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 0

W: Austin, Paige (1-0) L: Booth (0-1)

Game Recap: Softball | | Ethan McGarvey, Sports Information Director

A Shutout Start

Biola softball opened up 2022 with a dominant showing, outdueling Northwest Nazarene, 3-0.

LA MIRADA --- A new season brought the same old Biola Eagles, as they picked up right where they left off in 2021. Paige Austin was dealing in the circle on the way to a 3-0 shutout for the hosting No. 3 Eagles over the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks.

The two teams battled it out to start their respective seasons on Thursday afternoon at Freedom Field in La Mirada. The 2022 opener began the Concordia Kick-Off Classic, a tournament of 21 top-tier softball teams across NCAA Division II.

The midweek matchup marked the first game with Kristin Halte at the helm for the BU squad. Halte started her coaching career perfect with the win. When asked about how she felt in the season-opener Halte said, "Nerve-wracking but exciting. It's an honor to lead this program this year."

Austin came into the new season on fire. The righty put together a career-performance with 17 strikeouts in the winning effort. Through the complete game outing, Austin offered a one-hitter, while completing her 20th career shutout on Thursday afternoon.

"(Paige) picked up where she left off last year," commented Halte. "We had a really good game plan going in and she executed perfectly."

The effort was historic from the ace, who became the all-time career leader for strikeouts with 589. The 17 whiffs also marked the most in a single-game for a pitcher in program-history.

The bats did their job to help support Austin in the circle. The BU team compiled seven hits and three runs to help them past the reigning GNAC champs, NNU. Seven hits and 21 at-bats made for a .333 batting average for the Eagles. 

Scoring came early for BU with its first two batters reaching base. Allie Beck led off with an infield single in the bottom of the first and stole second to put a runner in scoring position quickly. Jennifer Morinishi tried to move Beck over with a sacrifice bunt but a NNU error allowed her to reach first base safely, while moving Beck to third. Morinishi followed suit and stole second, placing runners on second and third with no outs. Back-to-back pop outs from BU slowed down the rally, before Brie Nowak came to the plate. The sophomore stepped up with a two-out two-RBI single to right field. 

In the third frame, BU added an insurance run thanks to a leadoff double from Morinishi. The centerfielder moved to third on a groundout and then scored on a sacrifice bunt from Raylene Roybal.

Rilee Ruvalcaba added to the offense with a multi-hit performance on Thursday. The shortstop went 2-3 at the plate with a pair of singles.

The Eagles will continue in the Concordia Kick-Off Classic on Friday against Chico State at 1:15 pm and Colorado Mesa at 5:30 pm.
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