Since their losses to No. 1 Concordia University Irvine in mid-March, Biola softball has developed a knack for scoring lots of runs and holding their opponents to few.
The four games this past week were no different.
Pitching duo CeCe Luster and Reba DePriest dominated from the mound, and the bats were on fire for the Eagles as Biola picked up a weekend doubleheader sweep of Arizona Christian University and took one of two from San Diego Christian College on Tuesday.
All three wins for Biola came in shutout fashion. Saturday, the Eagles defeated ACU 9-0 and then chased the victory with a solid 3-0 win.
A loss Tuesday morning to SDCC snapped a four-game winning streak for Biola, with the Hawks scoring the only two runs in the game in the first inning. However, the Eagles responded in the second game, scoring in the first and fourth inning to cruise to their third shutout win in four games.
Luster picked up her 15th win of the season, holding onto her 1.41 ERA.
Over the span of the four games, DePriest lowered her ERA to 0.34 on the season, placing her fourth in the nation. The sophomore also ranks first in the nation in opponents batting average at .111 and fifth in strikeouts with 145.
The addition of DePriest has clearly helped Biola improve to a top-20 caliber team this year, but the offensive production has increased as well over the span of a year.
UP AND UP
Last season, the Eagles didn’t have a single player over .300 in batting average. This year, however, Biola has five that are hitting at that level or higher.
Ashley Spadt has been on fire at the plate for the Eagles this year, currently hitting .412 with 18 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits. Mackenzie Magro also has a solid stat line with a .367 batting average.
Luster has been contributing quite a bit more behind the plate then she did last year. Second on the team in at bats, she’s hitting .365 with four home runs and 20 RBIs, a team high in both stats.
The Eagles have also been able to balance out their strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Last season, the team combined for 210 strikeouts and only 89 walks. With eight games to go in the regular season, Biola has accumulated 84 walks already and has drastically lowered its strikeout number to only 95.
The next few games will be crucial for the Eagles to put themselves into a good position heading into playoffs.
One of their three conference losses came at the hands of Vanguard University, who they will take on this Saturday in a doubleheader. Following that, the Eagles head to Lancaster for a two-game series with University of Antelope Valley.
Biola then will return home for a rematch against the number one team in the nation, Concordia. The CU Eagles won the 2013 NAIA softball National Championship and have retained their No. 1 ranking the entire year. With a 12-2 Golden State Athletic Conference recorded, it’s clear Concordia can be beaten, with both their losses coming to Vanguard.
The Eagles will need solid pitching and hitting over the next few weeks to continue to climb the ranks and put themselves in position to make a deep playoff run.
