AZUSA, Calif. - It was a bittersweet day as nine seniors for Azusa Pacific played their final home games at the Cougar Softball Complex, but the Cougars ended the regular season with a bang, defeating the Eagles of Biola and Cornerstone Cup rival 7-4 in game one and 5-1 in game two. The victories secured the series win over Biola as Azusa Pacific took three out of four games from the Eagles this year, earning 10 Cornerstone Cup points, which helped secure the victory for the seventh year in a row for the Cougars.
Every single player in the lineup recorded a hit in game one as the seniors combined for 13 hits on the day. Aly Montesino led the offense, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, one of them being a grand slam with six RBI on the day and two runs scored. In the circle, Katie Korstrom and Sydnie Sahhar each collected a win.
At the conlcusion of game two, the Azusa Pacific softball program honored their nine seniors, Mia Alvarez, Ally Chin, Kinsey Erickson, Felicia De La Torre, Jaelah Burrell, Aleah Delgado, Korstrom, Montesino and Sahhar.
Game One: Azusa Pacific 7, Biola 4
The Cougars got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth when Korstrom led off with a single followed by another single from Bella Fraser. A sacrifice bunt from Izzy Rivera put runners at second and third for Montesino who hit a sacrifice fly to put Azusa Pacific up 1-0.
The offense broke it open in the fifth when Erickson singled then proceeded to steal second. A groundout from Chin moved her over and a single from Caitlin DeCanio scored Erickson to give the Cougars a 2-0 edge. Korstrom then reached on an error followed by a hit by pitch to load the bases. A single from Rivera scored DeCanio, going up 3-0 and the bases were still loaded for Montesino who delivered, hitting a grand slam to give Azusa Pacific a 7-0 lead over the Eagles.
Biola put up a four spot in their half of the sixth, but Korstrom shut down the offense in the seventh as Azusa Pacific was able to walk away with a 7-4 victory in game one. Korstrom threw her 21st complete game of the season, earning her 16th win on the mound, while Montesino collected a career-high five RBI.
Game Two: Azusa Pacific 5, Biola 1
The Cougars kept the offensive momentum rolling as Alvarez and Chin led off the game with back-to-back singles, followed by a double from DeCanio to give Azusa Pacific a 2-0 lead. A fielder's choice off the bat of Sommer Quinones then gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead early.
In the bottom of the fourth, Sierra Sandoval led off the inning with a base hit followed by a SAC bunt from Erickson. Alvarez then singled to score pinch runner Hailey Burns to take a 4-0 lead. In the next inning, Montesino smashed her second home run of the day to straight away center, giving the Cougars a 5-0 advantage over Biola.
The Eagles were able to get on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but De La Torre got out of the jam and threw a clean seventh inning en route to Azusa Pacific's 5-1 game two victory over Biola.
Sahhar threw five scoreless innings, earning her fifth win of the season while striking out three. De La Torre threw two innings, only giving up two hits while striking out two.
By the Numbers: The Cougars wrap up the regular season with a 28-17 record and 19-9 PacWest conference record and will be the No. 2 seed in the PacWest Conference tournament taking place in San Rafael, Calif. Next week from May 1-3. Azusa Pacific led the conference in batting average, being the only team to hit above .300 with a .305 AVG% and they led all conference teams defensively with a .979 FLD%. The pitching staff of Korstrom, Sahhar, De La Torre, Montesino, Mia Castillo and Delaney Raetz ranked second in the conference with a 1.73 ERA as a staff. Seven different players ranked top-10 in the PacWest in 12 different offensive categories and Korstrom was the leader on the year among conference opponents with a 1.14 ERA and 148 innings pitched.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific will look ahead to the conference tournament happening on the campus of Dominican University in San Rafael next week, May 1-3. Brackets for the double elimination tournament will be released soon.
