Phoenix, AZ- With both games going down to the final pitch, Arizona Christian and Hope International played a thrilling double header on Saturday with the Firestorm pulling out the 3-1 and in walk-off fashion 4-3 wins.  Senior Abby Beasley celebrated Senior Day by producing a 5-8 effort with a home run and 3 RBI.

In the opener, base runners were in abundance for both teams as neither team ever recorded 1-2-3 inning.

After leaving singles stranded in the first and second, the Firestorm (33-13-1, 15-7 GSAC) struck first in the third.  Freshman Jenna Castilleja singled to begin the inning.  Two batters later, Beasley drilled the first pitch she saw of the at bat over the left field fence for her seventh homer of the year.

Moving on to the bottom of the sixth, Junior Kylie Christman sent a towering shot on the first pitch of the inning to left.  HIU's Jocelyn Young was tracking the ball and appeared to catch the ball just above the fence but the ball was jarred loose by the fence just before Young could pull it back and dropped over for a Christman home run- her ninth of the season.

With a 3-0 ACU lead going into the seventh, the Royals (25-24, 9-13 GSAC) did anything but give up.  In fact, their first three batters reached with a triple, double, and single to score a run and put the tying runs on base.  After a sacrifice, HIU had runners at second and third with one out.  But Senior Jackie Aguilar struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Aguilar threw the 28th complete game of her ACU career to improve to 15-5 on the year.

Game two saw Hope International score the first run with a double and a single in the second.  The 1-0 score would hold until the fifth.

Four straight singles by Castilleja, Junior Sianna Gomez, Senior Alyssa Vanderdrink, and Beasley ultimately scored two runs.  On Beasley's single, Castilleja scored immediately but Vanderdrink and Beasley both ended in run downs allowing Gomez to also score and everybody else was safe.  Freshman Anely Marcilla grounded out to bring home Vanderdrink and ACU was up 3-1.

Following a scoreless sixth, the Royals were faced with another 3-1 loss but this time in the seventh they were able push across two more runs to force a 3-3 tie.

In the bottom of the seventh, Castilleja leadoff by reaching on an error.  Gomez moved her up to second with a sac bunt.  Vanderdrink dropped a single into right.  Beasley was intentionally walked to load the bases.  With Marcilla in the box trying to drive home the winning run, HIU's Frances Campoy bounced a pitch in front of the plate that scooted back to the backstop allowing Castilleja to score the walk-off game winner from third.

Junior Destinee Spencer threw all seven innings for the win and a 12-3 record.  Campoy (10-11) was actually charged with both losses after starting the first game and coming on in relief in the second.

Head Coach Trisha Thurston capped off the day with the following, "With today being senior day, there was definitely a special feel about it. This team is special. They have been through so much together and they keep fighting and pressing on each day. I love watching them battle and I am so proud of our 5 seniors. It's a great day to be a Firestorm!"

The Firestorm will have the week off before heading to San Diego Christian on Saturday to conclude the regular season.  ACU and SDCC will be at Grossmont College for two games beginning at 12:00 pm.  As for the Royals, they will close their regular season by hosting Vanguard on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.