IRVINE, Calif. – It's not how you start, it's how you finish.
That mantra rang true on Wednesday for the Concordia University Irvine softball team as the Golden Eagles fell behind by three runs against Biola before even stepping into the batter's box.
To their credit, the ladies regrouped quickly in their first game of the PacWest Conference Tournament by scoring five runs in the bottom half of the first inning to take a 5-3 lead that they would never relinquish.
Second Team All-PacWest selection Shelby Pfeiler launched a game-tying three run homer to make it a new ball game at 3-3. Third baseman
Jocelyn Pino added a two-run single as the two teams combined for eight runs in the first frame.
Pfeiler supplied another clutch hit in her next at-bat. The catcher drove in another run to score
Kaia Nisby to give her 4 RBI on the day and push the CUI lead to 6-3.
Rylie Rohr added a solo homer in the fifth and
First Team All-Conference first baseman
Missy Nemeth walloped screamer over the centerfield wall for some extra insurance.
The nine runs were more than enough to help the Golden Eagles lock down the win.
Katlin Entrup improved to 15-7 with the victory in the circle after
Cortney Koelmans pitched into the third. Both
All-PacWest selections pitched to contact and combined to limit Biola to only two runs after that first inning.
CUI plays Azusa Pacific on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. on the winner's side of the bracket. Biola faces Hawaii Hilo in the first of two elimination games later that day.
The two surviving teams from Thursday will then play Friday starting at 12 p.m. It is a double elimination tournament with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA DI West Regional. If needed, a second game will follow the first matchup on Friday.
CUI ranks No. 3 in the newly released NCAA DII West Regional rankings behind only GNAC leaders Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene. APU ranks No. 9 currently with the top eight making the regional bracket.
CLICK HERE for the updated CUI softball schedule
CLICK HERE to go to the Tournament Central page