LA MIRADA, Calif. — Biola Softball suffered its first setback at the 2023 PacWest Conference Softball Championship in an 8-2 loss to the top seed, Concordia University Irvine.

"In this game, we made a lot of mistakes. When you make a lot of mistakes against a good team, they capitalize on it," said Head Coach Kristin Halte. "

The Golden Eagles were the designated home team in this one and struck first in a dramatic way when the conference leader in home runs, Rylie Rohr hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning. The Concordia offense was locked in to start this one, loading the bases in the first inning, second inning and third inning and jumping out to a 6-0 advantage.

After CUI starter Kaitlin Entrup retired the first two batters in the third inning, Biola used four singles in a row to manufacture two runs and begin to work their way back into things.

It was the Biola Eagles who managed to load the bases in their half of the fifth inning, using an Abie Nowak hit-by-pitch, Rilee Ruvalcaba single and a Raylene Roybal walk to set up a golden opportunity to bring things even closer. 

Unfortunately, an infield single and a run was canceled out as a Biola batter was called out of the box. That ended the rally and stymied any Biola momentum for the rest of the contest.

A three-hit inning in the sixth allowed Concordia to tack on two more to bring the game to its final score line.

Biola managed eight hits off the Concordia pitching, led by a 3-for-3 day from Ruvalcaba. 

The Eagles will have to battle to earn a spot in the championship series on Friday. They will play the winning team from a matchup between Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific at about 7 p.m. Thursday.

"Something in us just wants to fight and keep fighting, so never count us out," said Allie Beck.