Biola baseball’s spring break consisted of a road trip, of sorts. Though it didn’t include national parks and sandy beaches, the Eagles came away from a 10-hour trek to Redding with three non-conference wins against Simpson University.

“It definitely wasn’t a matched series at all,” said senior starting pitcher Nick Turner, “but I think it gave guys a lot of confidence in certain areas which will be really important in the upcoming Concordia [University Irvine] series.”

Biola shut out the Redhawks twice — backed by complete-game performances from Turner and freshman Trevor Oaks — and outscored Simpson 31-10 over the four-game series.

Simpson drops to 3-30 on the season, with one of those wins coming on the back end of Friday’s doubleheader — a 7-6 loss for Biola in which the Eagles committed six errors.

Eagles knock off number 11-ranked San Marcos

Before taking three of four from the Redhawks, Biola faced California State University, San Marcos April 2— a team that boasted a 22-5 record heading into the game. After failing to break the Cougars’ undefeated streak on Feb. 19 in a close 5-4 ballgame, the Eagles prevailed at home in the rematch, 5-3.

Though erratic at times — walking four and plunking one — freshman starter Josh Staumont picked up his fifth win for the Eagles, giving up three runs over six innings before handing it over to three frames of scoreless relief from the bullpen.

Junior Bryan Castelli and sophomore Garrett Picha combined to face just 10 batters in the final three innings, with Castelli surrendering the only hit. Picha’s save is his third of the season.

Staumont’s win in Saturday’s series finale against Simpson increased his record to 6-5 and secured back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 16 and Jan. 28 — his first two starts of the year. The right-hander also displayed a dramatic improvement in control as he walked none and struck out seven over six innings of work.

“Josh was able to be great on short rest,” Turner said. “That will give any pitcher confidence especially after the six-day rest he’s getting this week.”

Turner, Lawrence shine in blowout win

Turner’s confidence continues to climb as the softballing right-hander won his sixth consecutive start in the Eagles’ 12-0 blowout victory over Simpson in the series opener. Turner struck out nine and allowed just five baserunners while throwing his second shutout of the year.

Junior left fielder Vince Lawrence’s record-breaking performance at the plate fueled the Eagles’ 12-run outburst. Lawrence tallied six hits in six at-bats, breaking a school record.

“Everything was just clicking in every at-bat,” Lawrence said. ‘It just happened to be one of those days where every ball hit was finding holes in the field.”

Lawrence finished the five-game stretch going 12-for-24 with four RBIs, including his first home run with Biola — a solo shot hit in the ninth inning of Saturday’s series finale.

“It felt great to finally get that first one after getting close a few times this year,” he said.

Oaks strikes out fifteen in shutout

Having shut out Simpson a day earlier, Friday’s game-one starter Oaks followed suit with a complete-game gem of his own. His 15 strikeouts are a season high for the Eagles, surpassing his career high of 10 he set on Feb. 14 at Azusa Pacific University.

With 83 strikeouts totaled on the season, Oaks leads the Golden State Athletic Conference and is second in the NAIA.

Oaks walked only one and allowed just five hits in his first scoreless start of the season.

Senior center fielder Benji Sutherland accounted for nine of Biola’s 31 runs over the five-game span, including two in Oaks’ 4-0 shutout. Sutherland has 14 hits over the last eight games.

Freshman catcher Sam Thorne ended a three-game, 0-for-11 slump by racking up nine hits in 19 at-bats in four games at Simpson, including three doubles and a home run. Thorne leads the Eagles with 37 RBIs and is fourth best in the GSAC.

Biola will return to conference play this Friday, hosting second-place Concordia in a three-game series that will feature two of the GSAC’s premier pitchers in the series opener — Biola’s Turner and Concordia’s lefty ace Cole Swanson. Turner leads the GSAC in wins and innings pitched, and has allowed the fewest walks per game. Swanson is second in wins and tops the conference in ERA with a 2.12 mark while Turner sits in third at 2.52.

Friday’s pitching duel will start at 3 p.m. and Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at noon.