AZUSA, Calif. – Half of Azusa Pacific's hits in a 9-1 opening-game win over BYU-Hawaii were doubles, and the Cougars finished off a Pacific West Conference sweep with a 7-1 win to move into a tie for second place in the conference standings with 10 games to go.

Azusa Pacific is now tied for second with Concordia, which visits the Cougars Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. to make up a rained-out doubleheader between the teams which was originally scheduled for April 9. Azusa Pacific and Concordia have identical 17-5 PacWest records, while conference-leading California Baptist is alone in first with a 19-5 mark. The Cougars are now 30-10 overall, clinching a 30-win season for the second time in three years and the fourth time in the past six seasons.

Senior designated player Jessica Melcher delivered two of Azusa Pacific's six doubles in the opener, and junior second baseman Nicki Sprague ended the game in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out RBI double that extended the lead to 9-1. Sprague, the PacWest RBI leader, drove in two runs in the first game to give her 44 RBIs on the year, and she went one-for-one and drew three walks in the nightcap.

Senior rightfielder Janelle Eccles provided the game-winning cushion in the second game with a two-run second-inning home run that broke a 1-1 tie, and sophomore first basemanKayla Jimenez added a two-run double for insurance in the bottom of the third.

BYU-Hawaii led both games, scoring in the second inning of the opener for a 1-0 lead which was answered by Azusa Pacific's two-run second. In the second game, the Seasiders scored in the first inning on Makaela Williamson's two-out single for another 1-0 lead. That run was promptly answered in the bottom of the frame with a spark from the Cougars' leadoff hitter, sophomore leftfielder Illiana Jimenez, who beat out an infield hit, stole second base, advanced to third on a sacrifice, and scored on a Madison Hernandez

The Cougars posted two-run frames each of the next three innings to roll out to a 7-1 lead, which held the rest of the way as junior lefthander Carly Xepoleas and senior righthander Narissa Garcia fired a combined two-hitter for the win. Xepoleas struck out two in three innings of work, while Garcia was credited with the win after tossing four shutout innings with three strikeouts.

Junior righthander Ariana von Zboray earned the complete-game win in the opener, scattering a single run on six hits with three strikeouts in six innings to improve to 9-2 on the year.

Sprague and Kayla Jimenez each drove in four runs on the day, and Azusa Pacific raised its PacWest-leading team batting average to .346.

Azusa Pacific extended BYU-Hawaii's season-long losing streak to seven games, dropping the Seasiders to 9-25 overall and 5-19 in PacWest play.