In the teams’ first non-conference meeting in almost two decades, Biola baseball routed Azusa Pacific University 15-4 on Thursday night to capture the team’s 10th win of the year.

The Eagles were backed both offensively and defensively against their now NCAA Division II arch rival to hand Azusa their worst home loss in nearly two years.

A four-run first frame followed by a six-run third frame blew the game open quickly and set the table for redshirt freshman starting pitcher Trevor Oaks to relax on the mound.

“I had no doubt in my mind that we were going to win this game as long as I did my job,” Oaks said.

Annunziata, Farrington homer to lead offense

Biola rocked Azusa sophomore starting pitcher Zachary Hedges, limiting him to just two and a third innings. The right-hander was pulled in the third after giving up seven earned runs on six hits.

Junior second baseman Michael Annunziata homered for the second straight game to cap off a four-run first inning, picking up his 13th and 14th RBIs of the year. With six RBIs in the last four games, the New York native catapulted to second on the team in RBIs, just two behind freshman third baseman Sam Thorne.

Thorne went 1-for-3 with an RBI while playing third base.

Biola’s six-run third inning was highlighted by junior shortstop Johnny Farrington’s first career home run — a three-run shot that made it 9-0.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen our team get so excited in the dugout,” Oaks said. “We all love Johnny and we want to see him play his best.

“He got his pitch and helped me out a ton,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Oaks dominates to earn first collegiate win

After a string of quality outings without registering a win, Oaks gave up just three earned runs in seven strong innings to pick up his first collegiate win.

Oaks struck out a career-high 12 Azusa hitters, breaking his previous career best of 10 which he set last week against Arizona Christian University. He says one pitch in particular aided him in accomplishing that feat tonight.

“I had great success spotting up with my fastball,” Oaks said. “In the first three innings I was struggling just a little bit, but midway through the fourth I noticed something about my mechanics that I hadn’t been doing in my last couple outings.

“Once I fixed that, I was able to strike batters out,” he said.

Oaks now has 39 strikeouts on the season in only 31 innings pitched, a mark that leads all NAIA pitchers.

Slater, Lawrence pick up three hits each

Both sophomore right fielder Paul Slater and junior designated hitter Vince Lawrence had three hits while senior center fielder Benji Sutherland continued his hot streak at the plate, picking up a hit and an RBI to extend his hit streak to 13.

Senior right-hander Nick Turner will look to follow up last weekend’s complete-game shutout when he takes the mound tomorrow night for game two of the four-game set. First pitch will be at 5 p.m.