Only two spring sports teams remain as the semester winds down. Softball and members of the track and field team earned spots at their respective national tournaments and, while they prepare for the final moments of their season, other spring teams look ahead to beginning off-season training to continue to add on to what they have already accomplished.
Softball
The softball team earned their second spot in the NAIA National Championship Tournament Opening Round for the second year in a row after pulling the rug out from under San Diego Christian University in the semifinal round of the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship Tournament with a walk-off win.
Although the softball team once again fell to Concordia University in the championship round of the tournament, they one-upped the previous year’s season by securing a spot in the tournament. The Eagles’ first game of the Opening Round Tournament beginning May 11.
Baseball
The baseball team had another disappointing season, ending their season earlier than desired by not making it to the GSAC championship tournament for the second year in a row. Despite not making the tournament, this year’s team did end up with a better overall record of 22-31 compared to the 15-29 2014 season record.
The team’s longest losing streak was six games towards the middle of the season. Biola only swept three teams this season and was swept six times throughout the season. Despite having an up and down season, the Eagles ended their season on a good note by winning the their last series against William Jessup University.
Tennis
It was another hard season for the women’s tennis team. The team had a 4-19 overall season and a .174 win percentage. Junior Kathryn Ashford led the women’s team in wins, with a record of 8-15 and 10-13 in her doubles matches.
The men’s tennis team came into the season with many new things to work with. The season had four freshmen additions to the team and Brent Worthington leading them in his first year as head coach . The team had their fair share of rough patches in the season, but ended their season 10-14 overall with a .417 percentage, which is the highest win percentage Biola has had in eight years.
The freshmen were a dynamic asset to the team. Philip Westwood broke the Biola winning streak record as a freshman and fellow freshman David Garcia lead the team in singles wins with a record of 14-9. Good things can be expected of this young team with an impressive first year.
Track and field
Track and field was the second team to experience the shift of new coaching staff. Bill Crumley became the interim coach after head coach Jonathan Zimmerman stepped down after the 2014 cross-country season was finished.
The team finished their regular season with 13 GSAC Athlete-Scholar honors to lead the other conference teams. Both the men and women had the most athletes named with the women leading the conference with nine scholar-athletes and the men with four.
The women’s team could not produce a third-straight GSAC championship title this year, coming second place to Westmont College by 56 points.
The team will be taking six individual competitors and two relay teams to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Nationals meet, which begins May 21.
