TURLOCK, Calif. –  Azusa Pacific started slowly on day two of the Tournament of Champions at Stanislaus State University, but still impressed, recovering from a 4-2 loss in the morning session against Central Washington to take a hard-fought 3-2 win over Chico State and then close out their day with a 9-3 win over Cal Poly Humboldt.

Game 1:  Central Washington 4, Azusa Pacific 2

The Cougars fell behind early and were unable to make up for that deficit in the opening game.  Central Washington scored one in the third, then added a pair of unearned runs in the third to make the score 3-0.  Cougar starter Sydnie Sahhar would retire nine in a row from the fourth inning into the seventh, but Azusa Pacific was only able to manage just two hits and a walk over the first six innings.  Central Washington got another unearned run in the top of the seventh, making it a four-run lead before the Cougar bats came to life.  In the bottom half of the inning, Dani Burghardt and Amanda Woods led off with back-to-back singles.  Sommer Quinones drove in one with another single, and Izzy Rivera followed up with her second double of the game to cut the deficit to 4-2 and put runners at second and third with one out.  But that was all the rally could muster, snapping Azusa Pacific's 10-game winning streak.

Game 2:  Azusa Pacific 3, Chico State 2

Squaring off against the second-place team in the CCAA, Azusa Pacific got going early.  Olivia Smith led off the game with a double and would come around on a two-out hit by Dani Burghardt.  Leading off the second, Caitlin DeCanio slugged her sixth home run of the season, sending a 1-2 offering over the fence in left to double the advantage.  The Wildcats would equalize the score with a pair of runs in the fifth inning, but in the top of the sixth, DeCanio would put the Cougars in front again, lifting a sac fly to center field to take a 3-2 lead.  That would prove to be enough for Katie Korstrom, who threw a complete game, striking out eight in the process to earn her 12th win of the season.  Burghardt and Woods each had a pair of hits for the Cougars in the game, which gave Azusa Pacific a victory over each of the top four teams in the CCAA standings this season.

Game 3:  Azusa Pacific 9, Cal Poly Humboldt 3

Azusa Pacific took advantage of multiple defensive miscues in the bottom of the first to score a pair of runs.  Smith reached on an error, stole second, then scored on another error that allowed Ally Chin to reach second base, from where she was doubled home by game three starting pitcher Aly Montesino.  Three batters later, another Lumberjack error plated Montesino, making the score 3-0 and prompting the first of three Humboldt pitching changes.  The advantage would prove to be short-lived as the Lumberjacks strung together two hits and a walk in the top of the second to cut the lead to a single run.  Montesino would again help out her own cause in the bottom half of the inning, driving in Smith with a two-out single to regain a two-run lead.

The bottom part of the order would get in on the action in the third inning.  With two out and a runner on first, Rivera hit a ground-rule double that put runners at second and third for Julia Olivares.  The second baseman laced a single down the line in right to score both runners, making the lead 6-2.  In the fourth, Woods came through again, singling at the end of an 11-pitch at-bat to drive in pinch runner Carley Gay to stretch the lead to five.  After another two-out hit, pinch hitter Madison Salgado stepped up and whacked a two-run double to right to make the score 9-2.  The Lumberjacks manufactured a run in the top of the fifth, but that was all they would get off Liz Phillips, who threw the final five innings to get the win in relief.

By the Numbers:  Azusa Pacific went 8-5 against the CCAA this season, including wins over the teams who currently own the four best records in the conference, which should prove quite valuable when the regional rankings come out in a couple of weeks.  The Cougar infielders were kept busy, as the pitching staff induced 36 groundouts over the course of the day.  Eleven different Cougars had a hit over the course of the day, and eight scored a run.  Woods had a team-high four hits and was the only player with a hit in all three games.  This is the third time since 2016 that Azusa Pacific has posted a 4-1 record at the Tournament of Champions.