AZUSA, Calif. – The phrase "walk off win" is rarely meant literally, but it happened in the opening game of Saturday's baseball doubleheader against Biola, as the Cougars prevailed on a bases-loaded walk, 6-5 in 11 innings before holding off the Eagles again 4-2 in the late game.

Game One: Azusa Pacific 6, Biola 5 (11 innings)

Biola jumped out to a 2-0 lead via a home run in the second inning.  Azusa Pacific was quick to respond.  Will Stroud led off the inning with a double to straight away center field.  Three batters later, with two out and Stroud on third, Tyus Santa Anna came through with a single through the left side to cut the deficit in half.  The score would remain that way until Stroud's next at-bat.  Spencer Rasmussen walked to lead off the fourth, and the right fielder followed with a line drive that just cleared the fence down the left field line for his first home run of the season, giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

The Eagles would respond with two home runs in the sixth, putting three runs on the board in total and taking a 5-3 advantage into the seventh inning.  But with one out, Rasmussen drew another walk, and this time, Stroud belted a shot into the netting above the fence in right for his second long ball of the day to tie the game.  The game dragged on into extra innings.  In the 11th, Stroud made his third highlight of the game, throwing out the potential go-ahead run on a base hit to right.  That kept the score tied going to the bottom of the inning, where the Cougars drew four consecutive walks to start the inning, forcing in a run for the walk-off victory.  Santa Anna had three hits in the game, while Taylor Ouellette and Jake Vargas combined to throw 5.2 shutout innings in relief.

Game Two: Azusa Pacific 4, Biola 2

Both pitchers took turns throwing zeros up on the scoreboard in the early innings.  Neither side had a hit entering the bottom of the fourth inning, when Stroud drove a ball up the middle into center for the first hit of the game.  Carson Collett followed with a single into center of his own, and then Spencer Rasmussen mashed a fastball over the fence in right to put the Cougars up 3-0.  The home side would add another run in the fifth, as Omar Lopez singled in Cade Marshman.

While all this was going on, Andrew White was making his first collegiate start, throwing five hitless innings, allowing just a single walk.  Biola would finally break through with a single and two runs in the seventh, but David Hays was able to complete his second inning to finish off the sweep.

By the Numbers:  The Cougar pitching staff combined for 17 strikeouts over the doubleheader.  All seven runs Biola scored in the two games were the result of home runs.  Stroud had four hits on the day, which is as many as Biola had as a team after taking their 5-3 lead in game one.  While the Cougars struck out 21 times themselves over the two games, they also drew 13 walks.  Azusa Pacific took three out of four in the series and six out of eight games against Biola this season, securing another 10 points towards this year's Cornerstone Cup.

Up Next:  The Cougars (26-17, 18-10 PacWest) head down to Irvine for their final non-conference game of the season, when they visit Concordia on Tuesday evening.  First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m., and the game can be livestreamed HERE.