Freshman starting pitcher Trevor Oaks gave up eight earned runs on 12 hits in Friday afternoon’s series opening loss to Concordia University Irvine, 12-3.
The right-hander struggled through the first four frames before surrendering four straight hits to fuel Concordia’s six-run fifth inning.
“My velocity was fine and my accuracy was excellent but for some reason, they hit every pitch I threw,” Oaks said. “I was hitting corners and everything.”
The 12 hits Oaks allowed account for almost half the amount of hits he had given up in his first five games combined.
“There were a lot of ground balls that got through the infield,” he said. “They just beat us today.”
The loss is the Eagles’ worst of the season and drops their Golden State Athletic Conference record to 5-5.
Concordia receives multiple offensive contributions
Six Concordia batters registered multi-hit games and seven different players recorded RBIs en route to the team’s largest margin of victory and highest run output of the season. Left fielder Dillon Bryant and third baseman Ryan DiMascio led the way, knocking in five of the team’s 10 RBIs.
Leadoff man Ty Holm and designated hitter Chance Kopacz each had three hits for Concordia.
Concordia struck for seven hits during their six-run fifth inning explosion while Biola had just six hits in the entire game.
Slater, Annunziata have solid games for Biola in loss
Sophomore right fielder Paul Slater went 3-for-4, including a fourth-inning leadoff triple that started Biola’s only rally of the game. Junior second baseman Michael Annunziata’s two-out, two-run double brought Biola within one, capping off the rally before Concordia broke the game open an inning later.
Annunziata now has 11 RBIs in his last seven games, going 10-for-24 with five doubles and two home runs over the span.
Tomorrow's doubleheader in Irvine will conclude the first of two three-game sets between the two teams, with Biola hosting Concordia in mid-April. Freshman right-hander Josh Staumont will throw game one and senior righty Nick Turner will pitch game two, starting at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
