RVINE, Calif. -- Flying under the radar just got a lot tougher for Azusa Pacific, which swept Concordia in Irvine for the first time since 2001, capitalizing on complete-game shutouts fromNarissa Garcia and Carly Xepoleas to post 4-0 and 5-0 victories Saturday afternoon.

After a two-week layoff since opening up Pacific West Conference play with three wins in a four-game series against nationally-ranked three-time defending conference champion Dixie State, the Cougars returned to action in peak form Saturday against a Concordia team which had won 18 of its last 24 home games against Azusa Pacific. The Eagles currently lead the PacWest in overall victories and started the afternoon just one game out of the PacWest lead.

"We have a rich history with Concordia, and even though we haven't seen them for a couple of years, every time we play them it seems like the games are always good, competitive, and a lot of fun to be a part of," Azusa Pacific head coach Carrie Webber said. "It was great to see our pitchers throw a couple of shutouts, and I was really pleased with how we were able to put some runs on the board against great pitching."

Instead, it was the Cougars who pulled within reach of PacWest-leading Hawai'i Hilo heading into next weekend's four-game home series against the Vulcans. Azusa Pacific improved to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in PacWest play, while Concordia fell to 26-7 overall and 8-4 in the PacWest.

"We've started conference play with two very good teams," Webber said. "The Dixie State series gave us a boost of confidence that really started the process of believing in how good of a team we are, and we're playing with the confidence to hit, field, and pitch with the knowledge that the rest of the team is going to back you up. Dixie State was that first confirmation of our potential, and today is another signal that we have a good team that needs to go out and prove it on a daily basis."

Garcia and Xepoleas registered Azusa Pacific's first pair of shutouts in the same doubleheader since 2014 when the same pair blanked Hope International University in a non-conference home doubleheader.

Garcia kicked off the sweep with a five-hit shutout, striking out seven while stranding nine Eagles on the bases. Xepoleas followed with a similar performance, firing a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts while stranding eight. Both pitchers battled out of trouble in the early innings before strong finishes, and the offense capitalized on Concordia errors to score first in both games.

"The pitchers are really starting to come around, and we've seen this coming from how hard they work in practice," Webber said. "You can see their veteran leadership in a performance like today, which was really a testament to their hard work. Madison called two great games behind the plate, and they really executed our game play by going after hitters and hitting their spots."

Freshman shortstop Cayla Broussard got the offense started right away in the first inning of the opener when she drew a one-out walk, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher, and scored on junior second baseman Nicki Sprague's single to left field. That gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead, and Broussard sparked the next scoring inning with a fourth-inning leadoff single. After moving to third on a Madison Hernandez base hit and a wild pitch, Broussard scored to make it a 2-0 game on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore first baseman Kayla Jimenez.

In the sixth, Broussard again led off with a base hit, and two pitches later Sprague drilled an 0-1 offering over the fence in right-center to extend the lead to 4-0.

Garcia retired the leadoff hitter in six of seven innings, helping her keep Concordia scoreless even though the Eagles had multiple runners on base in four different innings. After Concordia collected a pair of base hits to lead off the bottom of the fifth, Garcia induced an infield popup and got out of the jam with a double-play ground ball to third baseman Christine Pinela. That set up a strong finish for Garcia, who retired eight of the final nine batters, with the only batter reaching base on a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh.

Xepoleas followed suit in the second game, as she also retired the leadoff hitter in six of seven frames. She also had to work out of an early jam when she loaded the bases on a one-out single and a pair of two-out walks in the second inning, but she got Concordia's leadoff hitter Ryann Ferguson to strike out swinging to end the threat. The Eagles never got another runner past first base, as Xepoleas retired 15 of the final 17 hitters she faced.

After three scoreless frames to start the game, the Cougar offense put together a three-run fourth inning when junior centerfielder Abry Moreno dropped a two-out bunt single down the first-base line with two runners already on base. The throw from the catcher sailed over the second baseman covering first base and rolled all the way to the right-field corner while Moreno raced all the way around the bases to score on the error.

A fifth-inning error led to another run for Azusa Pacific in the fifth, giving the Cougars a 4-0 lead, and Jimenez delivered a two-out RBI single in the seventh for the final 5-0 margin.

On the day, Broussard was four-for-six with four runs scored, while Sprague was three-for-six with two runs and three RBIs. Moreno was also three-for-six and hit safely in both games of the doubleheader.