Phoenix, AZ- Four different times Arizona Christian came to bat facing the end of a game and all four times ACU rallied.  But Hope International held the rallies to a minimum and completed the sweep 19-12 and 3-2.  Freshman Paige Church was the hitting star for ACU with a .571, five RBI day.

The Royals (19-5, 7-3 GSAC) wasted little time getting on the board in game one as a walk and two singles made it a 1-0 game in the top of the first.

But HIU was just getting warmed up as in the third they sent 16 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs to grab a 12-0 lead.

The Firestorm (14-15, 3-7 GSAC) made noise in the bottom of the third- an overall inning that took about an hour to complete.  Junior Bridget Kruck and Sophomore Jenna Castilleja recorded back-to-back doubles to put ACU on the board.  Four straight singles followed by a walk pushed across three more runs.

In the top of the fifth, Hope International added a run for the 13-4 lead and brought the potential mercy run rule into play.  But Arizona Christian kept the game alive as they scored two runs thanks to three errors by HIU.

A pair of home runs and a triple followed by a single to score three runs for the Royals once again put the pressure on the Firestorm to keep the game going in the sixth.  Errors played a factor once again as Junior Cheyann Michael and Church produced RBI singles to send the game into the seventh.

Another three run inning in the top of the seventh had ACU come to bat chasing ten in the bottom of the inning.  Sophomore Anely Marcilla singled to open the inning and Sophomore Taylor Babbitt doubled behind her.  Kruck and Michael came through RBI singles.  The ACU rally was stopped short at three on a line drive double play that ended the game.

The teams combined for 31 runs, 36 hits, and 8 errors.

Game two was scoreless until HIU's fifth home run of the day made it 1-0 in the third.

In the top of the seventh, with the score still 1-0, Hope international loaded the bases with a single and two walks.  A ball tapped back to the circle should have at least cut the runner down at the plate but the throw home sailed to the backstop to give the Royals a 2-0 cushion.  A fielder's choice should have resulted in at least one out but in the attempt to two turn second base was not actually touched and everyone was safe.  Another fielder's choice added a run and moved HIU up 3-0.

Those miscues came back to haunt ACU.  Senior Sianna Gomez and Michael singled to start the bottom of the seventh.  Church cashed in both runners with a single back up the middle that without the free runs in the top of the inning would have been resulted in a walk-off win.  Instead Arizona Christian was still chasing one and the next two hitters recorded outs to end the game.

Marcilla went the distance but still suffered her first loss of the season despite eight strikeouts.

On Saturday, Arizona Christian will host San Diego Christian at Sandra Day O'Connor High School.  The twin bill will start at 12:00 pm.