IRVINE, Calif. – The offense came alive for No. 9 Concordia University Irvine softball on Saturday as four different players went yard against Biola to back another strong performance by the elite pitching staff.
The first-place Golden Eagles swept the season series with two victories against their rivals from La Mirada.
CUI improved to 33-9 overall and 18-4 in PacWest Conference play. The Golden Eagles have just ten regular season games remaining and are closing in on a potential fifth straight first-place finish in the league. They have won the last three full season conference titles and also won their pod in the shortened post-pandemic season in 2021.
CUI also maintained its status as the team with the lowest team ERA in all of NCAA DII. The Golden Eagles have had a team ERA under 1.00 for multiple weeks.
Game 1: CUI 4, Biola 0
Daniela Alvarez pitched a masterpiece for her second complete game shutout of the season.
The right-hander only allowed two hits during her seven scoreless innings of work. Both were harmless singles. Alvarez improved to 8-2 in the circle.
After scoring a unearned run in the bottom of the first due to three walks and an error,
Sydney Sprinkle smashed the first homer of the day over the left field fence to make it 2-0 in the third inning.
A couple batters later,
Shelby Pfeiler followed suit and crushed a two-run blast to that left side as well to make it 4-0 Golden Eagles.
That's where the scoreboard would stay as Alvarez and the defense limited Biola on the basepaths.
Game 2: CUI 7, Biola 3
Biola scraped together its first run of the day to start the second game.
But CUI answered again in the bottom of the third to grab a 2-1 lead on a two-run homer by
Jocelyn Pino.
After Biola rallied to knot things up at 2-2, shortstop
Rylie Rohr proved again that she is a clutch performer.
Rohr cranked her team-leading 11th home run over by the flags in left-center. That put Concordia ahead to stay 3-2. Rohr also leads the entire PacWest with those 11 home runs – and that's by a wide margin. Her teammate
Shelby Pfeiler ranks second with six blasts.
The floodgates opened after that as CUI put up a 5 spot in that bottom of the sixth.
Center fielder
Kaia Nisby singled in pinch-runner
Shelli Faulk to make it 4-2. Then last year's PacWest Player of the Year
Megan Massa added a two-run double. She would then come around to score herself on a RBI double by
Missy Nemeth.
Katlin Entrup entered in relief of
Rae Flores and together the pair limited Biola to only three runs. Entrup earned the win and improved to 12-3 which also leads the entire team.
Next up for the Golden Eagles is a few days off for Easter. Classes resume Tuesday and the team hosts Academy of Art for a pair of doubleheaders this coming Friday and Saturday on campus.
First pitch Friday with the Urban Knights is scheduled for 3 p.m.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI softball schedule
