SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Day two of the PacWest Softball Tournament saw the Cougars drop the winners' bracket final to Concordia by a score of 5-1 before earning a rematch with another 4-2 victory over Hawai'i Hilo.

Game One:  Concordia 5, Azusa Pacific 1

The Cougars got a hit with two outs in each of the first two innings, though nothing came of them.  In the bottom of the second, Concordia had a runner on first with two out when their eighth hitter of the game laced a double into center field.  Kinsey Erickson's throw was in time, but drew catcher Jaelah Burrell into the path of Concordia's base runner, drawing an obstruction call that automatically made the runner safe, producing the game's first run.  After both teams went down in order in the third, the Cougars struck back.  With two outs, Bella Fraser worked the count full, then volleyed a fastball back over the fence in straightaway center for her third home run of the year to tie the contest at 1-1.  

Pitcher Sydnie Sahhar was able to work around a pair of singles, leaving two runners stranded on base to end the fourth.  In the top of the fifth, the Golden Eagles got runners to second and third with nobody out in the bottom half of the inning.  They broke through with a two-run hit to right center with one out, and immediately followed that up with a two-run homer to make the score 5-1.  Sahhar would end the game with five strikeouts, but the Cougars would be sent into the elimination bracket.

Game Two:  Azusa Pacific 4, Hawai'i Hilo 2

The Cougars got an extra hour to rest than they were anticipating after Hilo needed 11 innings to eliminate Biola, 8-5.  After a scoreless first, the back half of the lineup would put Azusa Pacific on the board, as Sommer Quinones singled in Fraser.  In the third, with a runner on first and two away, Fraser returned the favor, lacing a triple down the right field line to double the advantage.  Izzy Rivera drove Fraser in on the very next pitch to hand the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

The Vulcans got on the board in the fifth with a solo home run and a bases-loaded single, though Sahhar came out of the bullpen to get an inning-ending strikeout with the Cougars clinging to a 3-2 advantage.  In the bottom half, Aly Montesino and Fraser had consecutive singles to put runners at the corners, then Rivera provided a valuable insurance run with a sac fly.  The Vulcans would load the bases again in the seventh, but Sahhar would get the final out via her fourth strikeout of the game to earn the save.  Felicia de la Torre threw the first 4.2 innings to earn the victory, while Fraser went 3-3 at the plate with two runs scored and one driven in.

Up Next: For Azusa Pacific (30-18), they find themselves exactly where they stood at this point in the PacWest Tournament last year: heading into the final day against Concordia, needing to beat the Golden Eagles twice to claim the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.  First pitch at Dominican is scheduled for 12:00 noon.  If the Cougars win that game, a winner-take-all contest will follow 30 minutes later.