SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Junior catcher Ryan Delgado hit 2 home runs to lift Azusa Pacific to the team’s single-season home run record, but the Cougars blew a 5-run lead and left its postseason fate to the voters in the NAIA coaches poll after suffering an 11-10 loss to Biola in a Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament elimination game.

Azusa Pacific is the first team eliminated from the 5-team, double-elimination GSAC Tournament, and the Cougars will be eligible for 1 of 14 at-large berths awarded to teams who did not receive their conference’s automatic berths, based on Friday’s final NAIA coaches poll. Should Azusa Pacific pick up an at-large berth, the Cougars will play in the 5-team, double-elimination NAIA Opening Round tournament it is hosting May 12-15 at the Cougar Baseball Complex.

Delgado’s bombs accounted for Azusa Pacific’s first 7 runs, all unearned off Biola starter Nate Coronado. With 2 outs and 2 on in the top of the first, Delgado homered to right to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead, and Azusa Pacific loaded the bases with the score tied at 3-3 in the top of the fifth. Back-to-back singles opened the inning, and Coronado’s error on a sacrifice bunt attempt loaded the bases with no outs. Coronado struck out designated hitter Chris Feicht, and junior first baseman Brice Cutspec’s fly out to left couldn’t score the runner from third. However, Delgado went deep to right field again, touching all the bases for his second grand slam of the season.

His second shot also set a new Azusa Pacific team record for home runs in a season, giving the Cougars 98 round-trippers on the year. In the top of the ninth, junior first baseman Brice Cutspec hit a solo shot to right field, his team-high 28th home run of the season and the team’s 99th blast. It was just the second earned run given up all year, and the first since Feb. 25, by Biola closer Billy Vopinek, whose streak of 22 innings without an earned run was snapped.

After Vopinek struck out 2 batters in the ninth, senior shortstop Shaun Lane kept Azusa Pacific alive with a single to center, but he was stranded there when Vopinek finished off the save with his third strikeout of the inning. Vopinek’s season saves total of 18 is the most of any level of college baseball this year.

Sammy Soyring doubled with 1 out in the top of the sixth, and the freshman second baseman scored on senior centerfielder Eddie Crespo’s single up the middle to give the Cougars an 8-3 lead. However, Biola stormed back in the bottom of the sixth, tallying 4 runs charged to senior righthander Matt Stone after loading the bases with 1 out in the frame.

Soyring’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh pushed the lead back to 9-7, but Biola loaded the bases again with 1 out in the bottom of the seventh, this time against junior reliever Garrett Granitz. Chris Foreman’s 1-out single to center scored a pair to tie the game at 9-9, and Brent Chavez hit a sacrifice fly to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 10-9. Foreman scored from third on a 2-out balk to give Biola what turned out to be a valuable insurance run.

Chavez was Biola’s leading hitter, going 4-for-4 with a first-inning solo home run, his fifth of the season, and Chad Pace was 3-for-4. Both Pace and Foreman scored twice and drove in 2 runs, while Chavez tallied a team-high 3 RBIs for the Eagles, who had blown a 12-3 third-inning lead earlier in the day in a 15-12 loss to Fresno Pacific.

A quartet of Cougars had multi-hit efforts, with Delgado’s 3-for-4, 7-RBI performance leading the way. Cutspec was 2-for-5 , recording hits in his final 2 at-bats after going hitless in his first 8 at-bats of the postseason, and Crespo’s 2-for-5 afternoon extended his current hitting streak to 11 games with his fourth straight multi-hit game. Senior third baseman Ryan Dowell was 2-for-4, and he owns a current 10-game hitting streak.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific drops to 33-18 overall, while Biola heads into Wednesday’s 9 a.m. elimination game with The Master’s with a 34-21 mark on the season.