IRVINE, Calif. – All four pitchers for Concordia University Irvine contributed on Saturday and the offense came alive in two short bursts to help the No. 11 Eagles soar past the Azusa Pacific Cougars in their first PacWest doubleheader of the year.

CUI (8-1, 2-0 PacWest) received some timely hits from the top of the order as Megan Massa and Amanda Gjertsen combined to go 4-for-12 at the plate with 3 RBI and 5 walks, which was good for a .529 on-base percentage.

Game 1: CUI 8, APU 6

CUI fell behind 4-0 in the PacWest opener for both squads before Amanda Gjertsen jumpstarted a huge third inning. The senior third baseman for the Eagles launched a solo shot to get her team on the board. After an error by APU extended the inning, CUI got three consecutive hits from McKinsey Thorpe, Sarah Kretschmar and Lauren Lopez to take a 6-4 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Massa provided the difference-maker with a single that helped plate both Thorpe and Kretschmar and made it 8-6 Eagles.

"The offense did a good job of not worrying about the score and just having quality at-bats which eventually paid off," said CUI head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "Amanda's home run was big and got us back into the game."

Callie Nunes and Erika Morris were the first two CUI pitchers of the afternoon and combined for five strikeouts while allowing a total of six runs. Rae Flores then came in and pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory. The reigning PacWest Freshman of the Week only needed nineteen pitches to mow down six batters and improve to 2-1 on the year.

Game 2: CUI 1, APU 0

Senior Jordan Quinn pitched a masterpiece in game two against the Cougars. Quinn tossed a complete game shutout and only allowed one hit the entire game as the Eagles eked out a 1-0 victory.

Massa supplied all the offense needed in this one with a RBI double in the sixth inning that plated Sydni Cruz. Cruz (formerly named Sydni Dix) reached on a pinch-hit single earlier in the inning to help set the table for CUI's leadoff hitter.

Quinn and the defense did the rest. Quinn actually did not register a single strikeout but instead pitched to contact. She worked her way around four walks and hit two batters but none of them came around to score.

"Jordan was lights out good," said Rosenthal. "She was effective in her locations and did a great job mixing in different looks. She gave up one bloop hit so in my mind was as close to perfect as she could have been.

"I'm proud of our two wins to open conference and look forward to continuing to improve," added Rosenthal."

The Eagles will head to Hawaii this coming week for their next 12 games on the road against Hawai'i Pacific, Chaminade and Hawai'i Hilo.

For the full CUI softball schedule, click here.