AZUSA, Calif. -- Carly Xepoleas was perfect through six innings of her Senior Day start for Azusa Pacific before settling for a two-hit shutout to lead the Cougars to a 7-0, 16-2 doubleheader sweep over Holy Names Saturday afternoon.
Xepoleas, who threw a five-inning no-hitter against Holy Names nearly a year ago to the day, retired the first 18 batters she faced in Saturday's opener before Megan Porche hit an infield single up the middle to break up the perfect game. After Jazmine Lewis followed the first hit with another base hit into left field, Xepoleas regrouped to finish off the game with three straight outs.
In the third or fourth inning, I started to realize what was going on, and even though I tried not to think about it, I was definitely shooting for it," Xepoleas said. "I go into every game with a steady approach, but with the realization throughout the day that this was the last home game of my career, I just tried to soak in the whole thing and make everything memorable."
The two-hit gem was Xepoleas' 15th career shutout, and she recorded five strikeouts while improving to 9-5 on the season.
In the second game, Azusa Pacific exploded for 13 runs in the fourth inning of a 16-2 win, sending 17 batters to the plate while coming within two runs of the program's single-inning scoring record. Senior second baseman Nicki Sprague came to the plate with the bases loaded in both of her at-bats in the inning, and the PacWest RBI leader delivered five RBIs in those two plate appearances alone.
Sprague went 3-for-4 in both games of the doubleheader, finishing the day with seven RBIs, and senior centerfielder Abry Moreno was 4-for-6 on the day with three runs and two RBIs. The four-person senior class was rounded out by Ariana von Zboray, who picked up the win in the second game and went 4-for-6 at the plate on the day.
"The only thing that shocked me about today was how emotional I got," Xepoleas said. "It's been such an honor to play for Azusa Pacific, because we know how to fight. We put everything we have into playing this game that we love, and I'm excited for the games we have left."
With the sweep, Azusa Pacific has now won nine of its last 10 games to improve to 31-17 overall and 22-8 in PacWest play, which moves the Cougars into a second-place tie in the PacWest standings with Dixie State. The regular season concludes with a Saturday, April 29 doubleheader at Concordia.
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GAME 1: Azusa Pacific 7, Holy Names 0
With the two-hit shutout, Xepoleas has now tossed 14 consecutive scoreless innings, and she has surrendered just one run in her last 28 innings of work over the past four starts. On Porche's leadoff single which spoiled the perfect-game bid in the top of the seventh inning, Cayla Broussard made a spectacular diving stop just to keep the ball in the infield, ranging far to her left to make the stop. However, Broussard had no time to scramble back to her feet for a strong enough throw to beat Porche.
The leadoff hitter reached safely in every inning for Azusa Pacific, which had 18 hits (all singles) in the game. Sprague and Illiana Jimenez notched three hits each, helping the Cougars to a 5-0 lead through the first two innings before adding two more insurance runs in the sixth inning for a 7-0 lead.
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GAME 2 (5 innings): Azusa Pacific 16, Holy Names 2
Azusa Pacific took advantage of two Holy Names errors in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead, and Kayla Jimenez hit a two-out RBI double to score Sprague in the third inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Erinn Jaramillo drew a leadoff walk which was followed by back-to-back doubles from von Zboray and Emily Moran to spark what turned out to be a 13-run outburst, and Sprague hit a bases-loaded two-run single in her first at-bat of the inning before hitting a bases-loaded two-out double to score the final three of the inning.
Sprague finished the game 3-for-4 with five RBIs, and five others collected two hits each in the game. Von Zboray took a shutout bid into the fifth inning after dealing four scoreless frames to start the game. She struck out five in her five innings of work and allowed just two hits in the first four innings.
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