Softball had an up-and-down week, winning a doubleheader against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on April 6 followed by a pair of losses to Arizona Christian University on the road on April 7. The Eagles then returned home on April 11 for their senior night, grabbing a split against San Diego Christian College.
Doubleheader sweep
The first games of the week leaned in the Eagles’ favor, as they earned their first doubleheader sweep since the Feb. 25 series against Hope International University. The first game took a total of 23 runs to decide the victor, with Biola winning 13-10 in the eighth inning after erasing a 6-2 deficit early.
Biola led the second game from the second inning, when they took a 3-1 lead. From there, both teams scored one run in the third, followed by three scoreless innings from both teams. Embry-Riddle scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 4-3 in Biola’s favor, where it stayed.
The next day, the Eagles made the trek to Phoenix and faced Arizona Christian, their first Golden State Athletic Conference opponent of the week. In the first game, the Eagles led 7-1 at the top of the third inning, but unfortunately could not hold on to claim the win. The Firestorm outscored Biola 10-3 en route to an 11-10 victory.
ACU got out to a fast start in the second game, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first. Biola would not be able to claw out from the hole, although they scored eight runs. At the end of the game, the score read 10-8 in Arizona’s favor, a frustrating result from an Eagles team who scored a combined 18 runs over the two games.
Senior series split
Finally, Biola returned home for their senior night against San Diego Christian, where they earned a series split to give their five seniors a proper send-off. The scores for both games were nearly identical, but with opposite results. The visiting Hawks took game one 6-3, followed by a 7-3 Biola win in the nightcap.
“We went into the team locker and said, ‘Let’s just have some fun! Let’s not be miserable and let’s have a good time and just be ourselves and get out there and do it,’” said head coach Lorie Coleman. “So they just decided to have fun and it worked.”
Biola’s five seniors — pitcher Kimmy Triolo, outfielders Kirstin Gutierrez, Briana Acuna and Kasey Hormel and infielder Miranda Galindo — walked off Freedom Field for their last game in victorious fashion, earning not only memories for themselves but also giving Coleman her 200th win at Biola.
“The win is great, and regardless, it’s great to have that moment with my teammates for the last time, but winning it makes it even better,” Triolo said.
