AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific picked up its 2017 conference title defense in the same place it finished off last year's Pacific West Conference softball title, posting a doubleheader sweep over California Baptist Tuesday night.

A year ago, the Cougars won a pair of one-run games against the Lancers to clinch the PacWest regular-season title at home, and Tuesday's 6-5 walkoff win in extra innings of the opener got the 2017 conference schedule off to a thrilling start. Azusa Pacific never trailed in either game, jumping out to an early three-run lead and eventual 4-2 win in the nightcap to run the program's PacWest win streak to 13 games.

"It was interesting to end last year's conference championship on this field and started this year on this field with the same opponent, but it's a different feeling and a different team," Azusa Pacific head coach Carrie Webber said. "We have a lot of new players who didn't know the feeling of the excitement and the passion of this rivalry until tonight, but those are situations that allow a team to rise to the occasion."

Three-time PacWest Player of the Year Nicki Sprague provided the game-winning hit in extra innings of the opener, smashing a two-out double to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Cougars to the walkoff win. In the second game, junior first baseman Kayla Jimenez cleared the bases in the first inning with a three-run double, and freshman lefthander Kat Ung took care of the rest, scattering two runs on seven hits to pick up the complete-game win. Junior leftfielder Illiana Jimenez went 5-for-7 with 6 stolen bases on the day.

"The thing that was nice to see throughout both games was our perseverance and fight," Webber said. "The relief pitcher they brought in both games shut us down for a while, but we kept fighting and fouling things off to try to put the ball in play and make one thing work. You can go around our entire lineup and find situations where everyone had their moment today."

With its first doubleheader sweep of the year, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-5 overall and starts PacWest play with a 2-0 mark. California Baptist falls to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Cougars' next 10 games are in Hawai'i, starting with a Saturday, March 4 doubleheader at Chaminade.

GAME 1 (9 innings): Azusa Pacific 6, California Baptist 5

Sprague's walkoff double capped an opener against a persistent California Baptist which twice came back to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Azusa Pacific scored single runs in each of the first three innings, including Erinn Jaramillo's leadoff home run in the second inning and Sprague's third-inning RBI single that gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

CBU loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning, and all three came around to score and tie the game at 3-3. Azusa Pacific quickly went back in front in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs when Illiana Jimenez and Cayla Broussard each drove in a run with consecutive two-out infield singles. The Lancers answered again in the fifth, cutting the Cougars' lead to 5-4 on Caitlin Lloyd's leadoff home run before tying the game on a two-out single from Brittany Galvez.

California Baptist coaxed consecutive two-out walks off Azusa Pacific starter Carly Xepoleas in the ninth, and the Lancers loaded the bases when reliever Megan Mejia plunked the first batter she faced. Mejia escaped the jam when Galvez flied out to Abry Moreno at the warning track in center field.

Illiana Jimenez, who reached on an error in the ninth and eventually scored on Sprague's game-winning double, went 3-for-5 with 3 stolen bases, and Sprague delivered 2 RBIs in a 2-for-4 performance. Freshman Megan Tucker also provided a pair of hits, going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles to help lead the Cougar offense.

GAME 2: Azusa Pacific 4, California Baptist 2

If the first game was a battle between productive offenses, the second game was a showcase for pitching and defense. Freshman lefthander Kat Ung spun a complete-game victory for Azusa Pacific, scattering two runs on seven hits while striking out three, and senior centerfielder Abry Moreno tracked down a deep fly ball to her left and stole a potential go-ahead home run from California Baptist in the fifth inning.

The Lancers countered with another effective appearance in long relief from Kellye Springstead, who surrendered just one run on two hits over the final four innings after striking out six and allowing just one unearned run on two hits in Tuesday's opener.

Fortunately, Azusa Pacific did its damage in the opening frame by loading the bases with the first three batters before Kayla Jimenez cleared the bases with a three-run double to center. That 3-0 lead held up until the fourth inning, when Galvez hit a two-run RBI single that snapped Ung's season-long scoreless streak at 17.0 innings.