AZUSA, Calif. -- Trisha Rico's sacrifice fly to right field scored Megan Alkire to lift Azusa Pacific to a 3-2 victory over Biola.
Trisha Rico's sacrifice fly to right field scored Megan Alkire to lift Azusa Pacific to a 3-2 victory over Biola.
No, that's not a typo, but rather an accurate account of Azusa Pacific's surprising sweep of the NAIA's No. 10-ranked Biola Tuesday afternoon. Rico ended both games in identical fashion, with game-winning sacrifice flies that scored Alkire from the third base. The only difference is that Rico's first game-winning fly ball came in the ninth inning of the first game and her second one came in the tenth inning of the nightcap.
In both games, Alkire started the inning at second base per the international tie-break rule. Then, as was the case in each game, her twin sister, Rachel Alkire, sacrificed her over to third base with bunts up the third-base line. Rico then punched fly balls to Biola right fielder Joanna Gray. In the first game, Gray's throw home wasn't close and Megain Alkire easily scored the game winner. However, in the second game, Gray's throw beat Alkire to home plate, but Alkire slid far away from Eagle catcher Nicole Menjares, slipping her left hand across the plate to give the Cougars the victory and the sweep.
The sweep was critical for Azusa Pacific to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Cougars, who must catch Vanguard for the fourth and final playoff spot, now trail the Lions by 3 games with 6 to play, including 2 with the Lions in Costa Mesa on Saturday.
In the opening game, Azusa Pacific assumed a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning after Kelli Thiederman tripled to left-center field and then trotted home when Jenn Crinklaw let Rachel Alkire's routine grounder go between her legs at second base. However, Biola answered in the top of the seventh with a Sarah Hughes' double that plated pinch runner Cassie Gunnerson with 1 out to tie the game at 2-2. Cougar pitcher Nicole Hendrix, though, got out of the jam by getting Gray to ground out and Jessica Clark to fly out.
Hendrix allowed just 5 hits in 9 innings of work while improving her record to 10-5. Lakey was the only Cougar with a multiple-hit performance, going 2-for4 with a run scored.
Biola also took the early lead in the nightcap, going up 1-0 in the fourth inning on Clark's 2-out single to left that scored Hughes. The Cougars answered in the bottom of the fifth. Megan Alkire led off with a double to left-center and then scored on Rico's single to left.
Biola took a 2-1 lead in the ninth when Hughes doubled home Becca Anderson with the go-ahead run with no outs. The Eagles appeared to have the game and a split in hand when they ran Azusa Pacific down to its final out. However, Thiederman laced a 1-1, 2-out Jessica Logsdon offering to wall in right-center field, scoring Norman with the game-tying run to force a tenth and deciding inning of play.
Megan Alkire was 1-for-4 with 2 runs scored. In the pitcher's circle, Rachel Alkire worked all 10 innings, giving up 8 hits while striking out 1 and walking just 1. She improves to 6-3 on the season and picks up her first win since March 16, when she broke her foot late in a game at Biola. She just returned to action this past Saturday.
The Cougar defense was outstanding in the extra frames. In both games, the Cougars snuffed out Biola attempts at go-ahead suicide squeeze plays, relying on Norman to block the plate in the eighth innings of each game . Additionally, in the second game, Rico made sparkling play at third base, cleanly fielding a Crinklaw bunt and then turning to a covering Jennie Waleszonia to nail Biola's lead runner at third base with no outs.
Rico finished the day with just 1 hit in 6 at-bats, but she had 3 RBIs. Lakey was 3-for-8 on the day.
With the sweep, the Cougars improve to 27-17 overall, 11-11 in the GSAC. Biola falls to 42-11 overall, 18-6 in the GSAC.
