AZUSA, Calif. – With storm clouds swirling around the Cougar Softball Complex Monday afternoon in what might possibly be a metaphor for Azusa Pacific's bleak start to Pacific West Conference play, the Cougars waited out the winter storm through two separate rain delays lasting nearly an hour for an uplifting sweep with identical five-inning 11-0 mercy-rule victories over Holy Names.
Junior pitcher Narissa Garcia tossed a no-hitter in the opening victory, striking out seven to pick up the win despite spending over an hour between her second and third innings while the storm caused two delays with Azusa Pacific batting in the bottom of the second. For Garcia, who threw two complete-game one-hitters last year, the no-hitter was the first of her collegiate career, and she retired the final 10 batters she faced to finish off the shutout.
Holy Names only got the ball out of the infield once against Garcia, when Danielle Santoro lined out to center field for the third out of the first inning.
"Narissa has thrown well this year, but it hasn't always come at the right time," Azusa Pacific head coach Carrie Webber said. "She's been working hard consistently throughout the offseason and into the season, and tonight it all came together for her. I think you're going to start to see that even more often as she gets even more innings under her belt."
After just one pitch in the bottom of the second inning, play was halted for a brief five-minute delay as a shower rolled through. After the Cougars loaded the bases with two outs, a lengthier downpour caused another delay, this time lasting 52 minutes. On the first pitch after the delay, junior catcher Madison Hernandez cleared the bases with a two-out double into left-center to give Azusa Pacific a 5-0 lead.
Over an hour passed between the time Garcia struck out Marissa Perez for the third out of the second inning and when she fanned Julianna Waller to lead off the third inning, and she cruised the rest of the way with one strikeout in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to complete the no-hitter.
"It was hard to stay focused through the delays, especially in the cold, but I tried my best to throw enough when I needed to stay warm," said Garcia, who threw a pair of complete-game one-hitters last year. "I have high standards for myself, so my only thought at the end of the game was that I was happy to get the job done for my team. I didn't know about the no-hitter until after the game was over."
Sophomore third baseman Nicki Sprague and Hernandez led off the fourth inning with back-to-back doubles, sparking a six-run outburst which included run-scoring base hits from Kayla Jimenez, Renae Chappelle, Desiree Chavez, and Sprague to push the lead to 11-0.
The second game followed the formula of the opening-game win, as the Cougar offense again scored 11 runs on 13 hits in the five-inning victory. Sprague opened up the scoring with a two-run home run, part of a three-run first inning which Azusa Pacific followed with two more in the second. Two innings later, senior leftfielder Sona Babayan helped open the floodgates for another six-run deluge with a one-out, two-run single into shallow right field. Jimenez and Janelle Eccles added RBI singles, and Chappelle doubled off the fence in left field to score another run.
"When things go wrong, you sit there and try to fix it, especially when you know your team is capable but things just aren't coming together," said Webber. "This was a stretch where we had to go through the learning process with this team and grow through this stretch. We have the leadership on this team to pull things together, and tonight we saw a different team than what we showed to start the season."
Sophomore lefthander Carly Xepoleas threw four shutout frames and struck out two to pick up the victory, and freshman Anneliese Davis retired three straight after issuing a leadoff walk in a scoreless fifth inning to finish off the shutout.
Sprague collected six hits in seven at-bats on the day to lead Azusa Pacific at the plate, and she scored five runs while driving in four. Sprague and Chavez each had three hits in the opener, while Babayan joined Sprague with three hits in the second game. Kayla Jimenez went two-for-three with a double in each game of the doubleheader, and Hernandez led the team with five RBIs on the day as she went three-for-six with a pair of doubles.
"It was nice to see the team play like the team we thought we could be at the beginning of the year," Webber said. "The bats came alive, we took care of the ball defensively, and the pitchers executed well, and usually when you put those three things together, good things happen. We were the kind of team I know we can be, and the next challenge is being that kind of team day in and day out to maintain that consistency."
The doubleheader sweep was the second this year for the Cougars, who improved to 10-11 overall and 4-6 in PacWest play.
Holy Names fell to 2-14 overall and 1-5 in the PacWest, although both of the Hawks' wins have come against teams with winning records so far this year (Central Washington and California Baptist). Monday's doubleheader wrapped up a 12-game homestand for Azusa Pacific, which is on the road for 14 straight before returning home in three weeks to host Cal State San Marcos in non-conference action.
The Cougars visit the PacWest's Hawai?i-based programs for 12 games in nine days, starting with doubleheaders at Hawai?i Hilo March 6 and 7 on the Big Island.
