On Feb. 9, softball met in West Covina to play a doubleheader. In their first game, they defeated Menlo College 5-4, winning off of a wild pitch. For the second game of the day, the Eagles faced William Jessup University. Despite an exciting start to that game, the Eagles could not recover and lost 9-4.

EAGLES HOLD ON TO DEFEAT MENLO

Biola’s offense flowed from the outset with three hits and an RBI by senior third baseman Selina Sherlin, who helped bring home sophomore designated hitter Jay Perez for the game’s first run. Senior pitcher Terri Van Dagens pitched a strong first two innings, tallying a strikeout and conceding zero hits. In the top of the third, Menlo capitalized on an error by the Eagles and stole home to take a 2-1 lead.

The Eagles bounced back quickly in the third inning, loading the bases off singles from sophomore catcher Kayla Neff, junior center fielder Areana Ramos and junior first baseman Missy Poti. Neff scored the tying run off a sacrifice fly-out to right field from freshman second baseman Kylie Velasco.

Tied at two, the Eagles took control as freshman pitcher Paige Austin threw two of her game-high eight strikeouts in the top of the fourth. The Eagles offense helped in the bottom of the fourth inning, with freshman left fielder Ruth Munoz scoring on a passed ball and Sherlin hitting a double deep into left field to score Perez, giving the Eagles a 4-2 lead.

Again, Menlo rallied in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs to tie the game at four. Austin struck out a Menlo pinch hitter with two runners on base to end the inning, saving the Eagles from giving up more. Still tied in the bottom of the fifth, Poti hit a double down the foul line. With two outs, Menlo’s pitcher threw a pitch allowing Poti to score, and put the Eagles up 5-4.  Austin solidified the Eagles victory from there, allowing zero hits in the last two innings.

TOUGH SECOND GAME LOSS

Game two began with an outburst of scoring from both teams. In the top of the first inning, William Jessup crushed a two-out grand slam to take a commanding 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, the Eagles faced a 4-0 deficit and William Jessup ace Shelbi Graifman, who pitched the entire game. With two outs, two runners on base and two strikes, Ramos sent a pitch from Graifman high over the wall, resulting in her first home run of the season to bring the score within one.

After the exhilarating first inning, the two teams went scoreless for the next three and the Eagles were held hitless. WJU broke the scoring drought in the fifth with a two-run homer to left field to extend their lead to 6-3.

Rough sixth inning pitching by the Eagles resulted in another run for WJU. Ramos scored again for the Eagles in the sixth, but WJU sealed the game with another two runs in the seventh, for a 9-4 defeat for the Eagles.

After splitting the games with one win and one loss, the Eagles’ record stands at 3-2.  They now look ahead to their matchup against Hope International University on Feb. 15.