AZUSA, Calif. – After a nearly year-long layoff, the Cougar softball team took got back on the field Friday with a double-header split against longtime GSAC rival Vanguard University, winning the opener 3-1 before falling in the nightcap, 6-3.

Game 1: Azusa Pacific 3, Vanguard 1
In the first game between the two former conference foes in three years, the Cougars rode a strong relief effort from freshman pitcher Katie Korstrom.  Appearing in her first collegiate game, Korstrom entered the game in the third inning and threw five shutout innings of relief, keeping the Lions off the scoreboard after the visitors had scratched across an early run in the second inning.  With two out in the bottom of the third, Brielle Fraijo singled home Kinsey Erickson to tie the game at 1-1.  The Cougars would take the lead for good in the following inning.  With one out and a runner on first, catcher Annie Gutierrez belted a two-run home run down the left-field line that provided the winning margin.  Vanguard stranded at least one runner on base in every inning, and left 10 overall in the game.

Game 2: Vanguard 6, Azusa Pacific 3
For a long time, game two was looking very similar to game one.  This time, it was the Cougars who struck first, with Gutierrez scoring from first on an Ashley Kincaid double in the second inning.  Vanguard, who is ranked 8^th in the NAIA's national preseason poll, would level the score in the fourth, but the Cougars would again take the lead in the fifth on another two-run homer, this time by designated player Alyana Montesino.  Montesino had pitched the first five innings as well, holding Vanguard's offense to a single run.  But the Cougars made a pitching change going into the sixth inning and the Lions came to life, batting around in the inning and scoring five runs in the process to flip the scoreboard and secure a split of the day. 

By the Numbers:  The two home runs the Cougars hit during the doubleheader are already half as many home runs as they hit in 21 games last season.  Korstrom threw a shutout seventh inning in game two, making it six scoreless innings on the day.  Becca Jewett had three hits in game two for the Cougars.  The victory in the opener was the first win the Cougars had against Vanguard since 2015.

Azusa Pacific (1-1) will continue this season-opening home stand with another nonconference doubleheader against Saint Katherine on Tuesday at the Cougar Softball Complex.  First pitch in game one is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.