LA MIRADA, Calif.--Host Biola and Hawaii Hilo played a thriller befitting of a 2-3 seed match-up with the Eagles holding on for a wild 7-6 win on Tuesday night at Freedom Field.
The No. 2 Eagles now advance to play a very familiar foe, No. 1 Concordia in the winner's bracket at 11 am on Wednesday. The Vulcans will play at 2 pm against Jessup in a must-win game for both teams in the double elimination tournament.
Biola jumped out early to give their home crowd plenty to cheer about. After a Jackie Ibarra single and an error, Kendall Nakano blasted a three-run homer over the left-centerfield fence to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead. Hawaii Hilo got a run back without a hit in the third, but Biola answered with another run after a Lillian Garcia double, a Lizzie Byer single and Makayla Huskey's bunt made it 4-1.
To that point, Biola starting pitcher Kayla Bousquette had not allowed a hit through three innings. But things came undone in the fourth and the Vulcans mounted a spirited rally.
Ava Monturio got the first hit and Breeann Leong followed with base hit. Kealohi Markham then drove in another run, driving Bousquette out of the game. The rally continued though via base hits from Rayna White and Lexie Tilton. By the time the inning ended, the Vulcans had scored five times on five hits with one Biola error to take a 6-4 lead.
That's how it stayed until the bottom of the sixth. An error got the inning started, and Kennadie Tsue then singled. A sacrifice bunt and a fielder's choice set the table for Alexa Sheard. She responded with a two-run single to tie it, and Nakano's ground ball then scored the winning run.
DJ Symons, who came into the game in the fourth, gave up a single to start the seventh off the bat of Kanoe Piltz. A sacrifice and ground out moved Piltz to third base, but Symons was able to get the final out to preserve the win.
"We came out strong but had an inning where we kind of fell apart," said Biola head coach Kristin Halte. "But we fought back and I am proud of that. We have the ability to flip the switch and that came in very handy today."
The Vulcans will need to win tomorrow against Jessup to keep their season alive.
"We knew we were going to have a battle with them, we had a game exactly like this earlier this year with Biola," said Vulcan head coach Aisha Sueda. "We pride ourselves on playing good defense and we just didn't today. But we are good at being underdogs and we will be ready to go tomorrow."