LA MIRADA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific secured a Pacific West Conference series victory over rival Biola with a 15-5 win in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, but the Eagles salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-3 walkoff victory over the PacWest-leading Cougars in the seven-inning nightcap.

The loss cuts Azusa Pacific's lead in the PacWest standings over a surging Point Loma squad to one game as the teams prepare for a head-to-head meeting to close out the regular season May 7-9. The Cougars are now 37-7 overall and 27-7 in PacWest play, while Biola sits in fourth place in the conference standings at 28-18 overall, 20-16 PacWest.

Justin Gomez led a 15-run, 16-hit offensive explosion in the opener, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs while the Cougars blasted three home runs while scoring all 15 runs in the final five innings. However, Biola limited Azusa Pacific to just five hits in the second game, and Andy Van Antwerp hit a crucial game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to set up the Eagles' seventh-inning rally. Jerron Largusa hit a one-out single to right-center with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to deliver the 4-3 victory for Biola.

What It Means: The PacWest championship math is simple, and it all comes down to Azusa Pacific's final regular-season series against Point Loma May 7-9. The winner of the four-game series will be the 2018 PacWest champion, or a series split would result in the Cougars' second consecutive conference title. From a regional standpoint, the series is crucial to the postseason selection and seeding process for both teams. Both teams were ranked in the top-four of the West Region in last week's first set of three weekly regional rankings, which are used for selection and seeding for the six-team NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament.

What's Next: Azusa Pacific hosts Point Loma for four games May 7-9, starting with a Monday night matchup against the Sea Lions. The Cougars will honor the 2018 senior class following Monday night's series opener.

How It Happened (Game 1): Gomez erased a 1-0 Biola lead in the fifth inning with a two-run single after Aaron Roose and Mychael Goudreau led off the inning with consecutive walks. Gomez later scored on an Austin Russ sacrifice fly, and the Cougars scored in each inning the rest of the way to add to the lead. Gomez provided another RBI single in the sixth to push the lead to 4-1, and Osvaldo Tovalin's three-run home run in the seventh inning sparked Azusa Pacific to a seven-run frame that made it 11-1.

Joseph Quire Jr. hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, and Russ hit another two-run shot in the ninth to answer Biola's four-run seventh and complete the scoring in a 15-5 victory. Dillon Miyashiro picked up the win, improving to 7-1 on the season after striking out four and surrendering just one unearned run in six innings of work.

Goudreau and Gomez combined to go 7-for-10 from the top of the lineup in the opener, and Tovalin and Sean Aspinall added two hits each.

How It Happened (Game 2): Biola took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the seven-inning game on a two-out Connor Kostecka single. Quire and Goudreau led off the top of the third with consecutive singles, and Quire scored to tie the game at 1-1 on a Gomez groundout. Goudreau moved to third base on the groundout, and when the final pitch of an intentional walk to Pablo O'Connor got past the catcher, Goudreau broke for home and scored the go-ahead run on the wild pitch.

The Cougars got an insurance run with O'Connor's sixth-inning solo home run to left, his team-high 13th home run of the season, but Van Antwerp tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run home run down the left-field line in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff single, walk, and hit by pitch. Quire ran down a popup behind second base for the first out of the inning, but Largusa knocked a 3-2 pitch into right-center for the game-winning hit for Biola.

Inside The Box Score: Azusa Pacific handed Biola its largest run differential in a PacWest series, outscoring the Eagles 43-13 over the four-game series… Azusa Pacific drew 10 walks in the opening game, but the only walk issued by Biola pitchers in the second game was a third-inning intentional walk of O'Connor… Gomez was 8-for-13 (.615 average) with 4 walks in the four-game PacWest series against Biola, registering an on-base percentage of .706… Goudreau was 3-for-5 in the opener and 1-for-3 in the nightcap, extending his streak of reaching base safely to 23 consecutive games.

Cornerstone Cup Impact: By winning four of the five games in the season series with Biola, Azusa Pacific secured all 10 points allocated to the sport of baseball towards the inaugural Cornerstone Cup Rivalry Trophy presented by West Coast Sand & Gravel. The Cornerstone Cup will be awarded annually to the athletic program with the most success in head-to-head matchups between Azusa Pacific and Biola throughout the year. A total of 140 points were awarded, with 10 points per sport going to the winner of the most head-to-head contests in each team sport or the higher-finishing team in conference championship competition for individual sports (cross country, track and field, swimming and diving).

Azusa Pacific clinched the Cornerstone Cup this weekend, securing 10 points for baseball (4-1 series win), 10 points for softball (3-1 series win), and 10 points each for its PacWest champion men's and women's track and field teams to win the rivalry competition by a final score of 95-45.