Box Score TURLOCK, Calif. — Paige Austin isn't going to let anything get in the way of her dominant super senior season continuing as planned. Despite being a bit banged up, the Eagles' ace turned in one of her finest performances of the season against a 2021 regional selection in Western Washington.

Austin went the distance in yet another shutout victory and recorded her second-highest strikeout total of the 2022 season with 14 Vikings being set down on strikes. It was her first double-digit strikeout performance since March 10 against Concordia.

The shutout was once again needed as the Biola offense could find just one run total, despite forcing five runners into scoring position over the course of their six offensive chances.

Similar to its game earlier in the day, Biola's only run of this tilt came in the bottom half of the fifth inning to break what had been a scoreless pitcher's duel.

Once again, it was the very bottom of the BU lineup that was responsible for the production. This time it was Alexis Lara who pinch-hit for Madison Blossey and recorded a single to start the rally.

After that, Hailey Paull laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Lara along and then the pinch-hitter advanced to third base via a passed ball. Rilee Ruvalcaba singled to left field to score Lara and would later advance all the way to third before being stranded there.

The Eagles saw another pinch-hitter make an impact as they looked to extend the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after Austin worked her way out of a jam in the top half.

This time the pinch-hitter was Caitlin Fowble who managed a two-out walk to keep the inning alive. She would be left stranded, putting Austin in a position where she'd need another perfect frame to come up with a win.

She delivered, getting a pop-up, strikeout and another pop-up to set down the Vikings in order.

Austin improves to 11-3 and today earned her sixth shutout of the season. This evening's performance drops her ERA down to 0.72. She also now has 151 strikeouts, which is more than 50 more strikeouts than the next-closest pitcher in the PacWest (Shelby Keltner - 100).  

Biola had six hits in the ballgame, all of which were singles and each coming from a different student-athlete. The victory helped Biola push to 8-7 away from Freedom Field this year.

Biola improves to 20-13 on the season and sets them up for a pair of big matchups on Saturday against California Collegiate Athletic Association foes, CSU Dominguez Hills (23-13) and CSU East Bay (17-14). 

The Eagles are 5-1 all-time against CSUEB and 0-1 against CSUDH. Their last matchup against both teams was back in 2020.