Franks' performance comes exactly a month to the date when Concordia pasted her for 6 runs and a 6-2 victory in the GSAC opener. Today though, Franks was in command. She averted first-inning trouble by stranding Eagle Nubia Enriquez, at third base with just one out and then danced around Eagle runners at second base in both the second and seventh innings. In between she retired 14 straight batters, striking out 5 in the process.

"The difference between today and last month was that Kris came out fearless this time," said Cougar coach Lori Kwiatkowski. "She was confident, not cocky, and stepped up."

The Cougars scored the game's only run in the first inning without the benefit of a hit, taking advantage of some questionable Eagle defense and brief wildness by All-GSAC pitcher Natalie Brown. After Lori Shimasaki led off with a walk, Concordia made a bad choice on Justine Barnett's sacrifice bunt, attempting to get the speedy Shimasaki, who was easily safe at second. A 1-out walk to Cassie Sweeney loaded the bases before Shawna Paxton appeared to hit an inning-ending double play ground ball. However, Eagle shortstop Caitlyn Senkbeil failed to cover second base and the only play available was at first, allowing Shimasaki to scoot home to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The was enough for Franks, who out-dueled Brown. Brown yielded just 2 hits and struck out 9 Cougars, but Franks refused to give in.

"Kris did a great job hitting her spots," said Kwiatkowski. "It wasn't a matter of one pitch working better than another. Shawna called a great game behind the plate, and Kris was super at putting the pitch where it had to be."

In the nightcap, Concordia produced 2 clutch singles, both with 2 outs, one in the first inning and another in the second, and held on for the 2-1 victory.

Franks was so dominant in the first game that Kwiatkowski opted to allow her to go through the Eagle line-up once in the second game. This time Senkbeil, who leads the GSAC with 16 home runs, was ready, ripping the first pitch of the game into the right-center gap for a double. After a strike out and inducing a pop-out, it appeared Franks would maneuver around trouble just as she did in the first game. However, Jamie Van Dijk looped a single into shallow left-center to send Senkbeil home.

Freshman Camille Hundley, who replaced Franks with 2 outs in the second inning, carried on quite nicely in a fashion similar to Franks, retiring 10 of the first 11 batters she faced. However, she walked Brown to lead off the sixth, and after forcing a pair of fly outs, she surrendered a 2-out single to Tracy Clark which sent Brown home with what proved to be a much-needed insurance run.

Concordia nearly gave the game away in the bottom of the seventh. With 2 outs and the bases empty the Eagles committed back-to-back errors, the first by Senkbeil at shortstop, and the second by rightfielder Michelle Carter, a 3-base miscue that allowed Paxton to come home from first base and put Rachel Yoshizu at third with the tying run.

However, Brown came on in relief and struck out Tami Carter to end the threat and salvage the split. Concordia starter, freshman Kory Briggs, was masterful in her performance, no-hitting the Cougars through 4 innings until giving up a leadoff single to Paxton to start the fifth. It was the Cougars' only safety of the game.

"We showed tonight that we're ready to make a change mentally," said Kwaitkowski about the gritty performance of her Cougars. "However, losing is unacceptable, and there is no reason to be satisfied with a split. Our fate is in our hands and we must take care of business."

The loss snapped Azusa Pacific's mild but season-high 5-game winning streak. The Cougars move to 17-10 overall, 4-6 in the GSAC. Concordia is now 32-9 overall, 8-6 in the GSAC.