In that second game, Azusa Pacific tied the game at 3-3 with a trio of runs in the top of the fourth. Sophomore catcher Bekah Weisser led off the inning with a double to left field and Heather Gilbertson and Jen Whitten followed with RBI singles. Pitcher Erin Halma capped the inning with a groundout that scored Gilbertson to tie the game.
The speedy Tieszen led off the fourth with an infield single, moved to third on Jill Schaefer’s infield single, and then came home when she and pinch runner Samantha Hall successfully pulled off a double steal to give the Sea Lions a 4-3 lead. PLNU added 2 more runs in the inning on 2 more singles to push the advantage to 6-3. That was enough of a cushion for reliever Kira Wommer, who shut down the Cougars over the final 3 innings, allowing just 2 hits to pick up her first save of the season and preserve Melissa Gomez’ perfect record, which now stands at 11-0.
Wommer retired the first 8 Cougars she faced before allowing back-to-back 2-out, seventh-inning singles to Erika Marmolejo and Gilbertson. However, she got Navarrete to foul out to end the game.
In the opening game, the Sea Lions used their speed and a pair of singles to take a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning. They doubled their lead in the third by plating another run on 2 singles and a Cougar error. That was enough for Lent, who out-dueled Cougar ace Camille Hundley, who struck out 6 in the process but had her personal 4-game winning streak come to an end.
The Cougars left 8 runners on base in the first game, including 3 in scoring position. They didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning when Erika Navarrete singled through the right side of the infield with 1 out. Halma followed with another single to right to move Navarrete to third but Lent recorded 1 of her 8 strikeouts on the day to end the inning and leave Navarrete and Halma on base.
Gilbertson and Navarrete both had 2 hits on the day while Whitten saw her 10-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 showing in the first game.
With the sweep, Point Loma Nazarene has now won 14 straight over Azusa Pacific and on the season improves to 28-3 overall, 10-2 in the GSAC. Azusa Pacific, which entered the day having won 9 of its past 10, instead falls to 18-12 overall, 6-6 in the GSAC.
