LA MIRADA, Calif. – Neither Academy of Art softball nor Biola held more than a three-run advantage throughout Monday's Pacific West Conference doubleheader as BU saw its game one lead whittled away to an eventual 4-2 nail-biter that saw ART U bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh. That was followed by game two where the Urban Knights went up early and held a winning margin until the sixth before falling 4-3 on a walk-off single in the final frame out at Eagles Field. Junior utility Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki continued to swing a hot bat, elevating her season batting average to .336 with five hits on the day.

GAME 1 – BU 4, ART U 2
Senior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (2-22) worked her way out of threats in the first two frames of the day, but Biola then registered three runs on two hits, one a two-run homer, and two errors in the home half of the third for a 3-0 lead. Academy of Art came right back with Grayhorse-Pupecki's one-out double, two walks, and junior infielder Katie Humphreys' run-scoring single in the fourth before rallying once again in the fifth.

With two outs, senior outfielder Bethany Mitchell doubled into the gap before scoring on Grayhorse-Pupecki's single five pitches later. The 3-2 score soon became 4-2 when a walk plus two singles led to a run for the Eagles in their part of the fifth. That margin was in danger in the seventh when graduate student outfielder Nina Vallejos led off with a pinch-hit single to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but Biola managed to escape with the win.

GAME 2 – BU 4, ART U 3
With one out in the first inning of the second contest, junior utility Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki once again demonstrated her speed with her fifth triple of the season, tying her both for the program's single-season (5) and career triples (9) records in the process. She would quickly score on a single off the bat of junior infielder Haley Randall and freshman pitcher Kamielle Powell (5-14) proceeded to hold that 1-0 advantage for the next two frames.

Small ball and just one of three hits out of the infield enabled the Eagles to tie game two in the third inning, but Randall struck again in the fifth when she doubled in two of her teammates who had reached via a hit by pitch and a single. One-run rallies in each of the three frames that followed, however, ultimately resulted in a walk-off 4-3 victory for the home team with the second of two singles in the seventh ending the twin bill.

Academy of Art, currently 7-38 overall and 3-21, was led by Grayhorse-Pupecki's pair of multi-hit games (now up to a team-high 11 on the year) which saw her go 5-for-9 with a double, a triple, three runs scored, and one driven in. Junior infielder Audrey Allen was 2-for-2 in the series opener, Mitchell doubled in each contest to give her 14 on the season (tied for fourth-most in ART U single-season history), and Randall followed by going 2-for-3 with three driven in (her fourth time doing so in her career) plus a double and a stolen base in the day's finale. Arnold-Jolley allowed just three earned runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in a complete 6.0 innings of the first contest then Powell gave up only two runs on five hits with five walks over 5.0 innings of work in game two.

Winning six straight now after an 11-game losing streak, Biola sits at 23-18 on the year and 15-9 in conference. A home run as well as a complete game victory came for Raylene Robyal (12-6) in the opening contest as she went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and one scored at the dish while allowing two runs on eight hits plus two walks and five strikeouts 7.0 innings in the pitcher's circle. Abie Nowak's 2-for-4 game two came with two runs batted in to support Kayla Bousequette (7-9) who won after surrendering three runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched.

The Urban Knights and Eagles will finish up their four-game series with another 2 p.m. doubleheader tomorrow.