KANEOHE, Hawai'i -- For the second consecutive day, Kayla Jimenez delivered a game-winning hit, with Tuesday's two-run double capping a four-run seventh-inning rally that completed a doubleheader sweep over Hawai'i Pacific.

After posting a 7-1 win in the opener, the Cougars trailed by a 4-1 margin entering its final turn to bat in the top of the seventh inning. Four hits and a timely error produced a four-run inning that pushed Azusa Pacific in front, 5-4, and Megan Mejia finished off the victory with a scoreless seventh to complete the doubleheader sweep of the Sharks.

"The positive thing about this team is they tend to have a little fight in them all the way to the end," Azusa Pacific head coach Carrie Webber said. "I know we always have a chance as long as we have one out left. We're able to keep ourselves in ballgames because of the experience and leadership of our team. The people who have been around the program tasted what it took to win a championship last year and really understand what it means to persevere and fight to the bitter end. They do a good job capitalizing on every single out they're given."

With the sweep, Azusa Pacific went 3-1 in the four-game series with Hawai'i Pacific, improving to 5-1 on its 10-game road trip through the Hawaiian Islands. The Cougars are now 15-6 overall and 7-1 in Pacific West Conference play, moving back into first place in the PacWest standings after previously-unbeaten Dixie State split a doubleheader with Dominican. Azusa Pacific's road trip continues on the island of O'ahu with a doubleheader at BYU-Hawaii on Thursday, March 9, before the 10-game swing concludes on the Big Island with a Saturday, March 11 doubleheader at Hawai'i Hilo.

GAME 1: Azusa Pacific 7, Hawai'i Pacific 1
Box Score

Ariana von Zboray fired a complete-game three-hitter, surrendering just one unearned run while striking out three, and the Cougar offense found its rhythm early in a seven-run, 13-hit attack. Nicki Sprague led the way, going three-for-four with three RBIs for her second three-hit game of the season.

Illiana Jimenez set the tone from the opening at-bat, reaching on an infield single before stealing second and third base to get in position to score easily on Sprague's one-out RBI single up the middle. In the bottom of the second, Hawai'i Pacific tied the game at 1-1 after a two-out error extended the inning for the Sharks.

After HPU scored, von Zboray settled in and retired 15 of the final 18 batters she faced. The Cougars edged in front, 2-1, with a run in the fourth inning, and Kayla Jimenez hit a one-out double in the fifth as Azusa Pacific added two more to go up 4-1. She also drove in the last of three runs in the sixth to push the lead to 7-1.

Kayla Jimenez, Emily Moran, and Abry Moreno each had two hits in the game, while Illiana Jimenez finished with three stolen bases, the fifth game with at least three steals for the conference steals leader so far this season.

GAME 2: Azusa Pacific 5, Hawai'i Pacific 4
Box Score

Hawai'i Pacific jumped out to the early lead in the nightcap, scoring once in the first inning and again in the third for a 2-0 lead. A leadoff double from von Zboray in the fifth inning was followed by an RBI single from Moreno to cut the lead to 2-1.

However, after HPU answered with a two-run fifth and kept the Cougars off the board in the sixth, Azusa Pacific headed into the seventh inning facing a three-run deficit. A von Zboray leadoff single was followed by one-out bunt singles from Illiana Jimenez and Broussard to load the bases for Sprague. She put the ball into the air in left field, and an error allowed two runs to score on the sacrifice fly while cutting the lead to 4-3 with one out in the inning.

After Sprague and Broussard moved into scoring position on a double steal, Jimenez drove a full-count pitch into left-center for a two-run double that gave the Cougars a 5-4 lead.

"When I got in the box after Nicki moved the runners, I really felt confident," Jimenez said. "I hadn't gotten on base all game, but I felt that this was my time. We didn't have many options at that point, so I was just looking for a base hit to move the runners and keep the inning going, and l was able to do that. We're a very competitive group, so even when we're down, we know we have a fighting chance until the game is done."

Mejia retired the first two HPU batters in the seventh before issuing a walk, and she finished off the victory by getting pinch-hitter Nicole Viena to ground out.