The Eagles fell behind early and their late rally fell short as they lost to Bethesda University 7-6 on Wednesday.

The Flames tallied two runs in the third inning and three runs in the fifth to build their lead. Biola was only able to answer with a run in the third off a fielder’s choice from senior catcher Michael Annunziata and a sacrifice fly from sophomore designated hitter Sam Thorne in the fifth.

Biola closed the gap to 5-3 in the seventh when freshman second baseman Andrew Frank drove home junior centerfielder Rob Groeschell.

In the top of the eighth the Bethesda added two more off of singles from Santiago Arce and Andrew Camacho to push their lead to 7-3.

In the bottom of the eighth the Eagles showed signs of life with senior Boone Farrington getting things going while reaching on an error. Groeschell came up a few batters later with the bases loaded and one down and drove a sacrifice fly into left field to make it 7-4. Annunziata followed this up with an RBI singled to bring home junior left fielder Tanner Swire.

Following a pitching change Thorne came to the plate and singled through the right side to make it a one run game. Thorne and Annunziata advanced to second and third on a wild pitch but Frank killed the rally, flying out to left to end the inning.

An uneventful ninth ended the loss for Biola and dropped their record to 7-17. They will look to bounce back this weekend with a three game series at Vanguard University.