Since their first Golden State Athletic Conference matchup against Menlo College, the Eagles went 1-3 against the College of Idaho Yotes and the Bethesda University Flames. They played a two-game series against the Yotes, which was sandwiched between two solo games against Bethesda.
The Eagles had not faced Bethesda since their season opener, which they won 10-9. This time around, the score was flipped as Biola fell to the Flames 9-10. After taking a three-run lead in the top of the eighth, the Eagles fought back and scored two runs in the bottom half of the same inning, but it was not enough for Biola to come back.
EXTENDED TO FOUR
As the Yotes came to town, the Eagles’ losing streak was extended to four as they dropped the series open to the College of Idaho 2-7. Down by one, the Eagles gave up three runs in the top of the eighth and hopes of victory dwindled away.
However, the Eagles split the series with the Yotes after a thrilling ninth inning and won the second game 5-4.
“Going into the ninth inning down 1-4, you always hope for something good to happen, but you’re also realistic,” said JD Meyer, junior second baseman. “Jimmy hit something into right centerfield, they made a couple of mistakes and you end up winning the game. I think it was more of a relief that we stopped that losing streak.”
SNAPPING THE LOSING STREAK
Junior first baseman Jimmy Gallarda hit a bases-loaded double and crossed the plate after a series of throwing errors made by the Yotes. His walk-off snapped Biola’s four game losing streak and improved their record to 5-10.
“There’s no one superstar on this team who is going to take over and put the team on their back,” Gallarda said. “You’re going to have a hero everyday and it happened to be me in the last inning. Even then we still got a couple good breaks.”
Gallarda went on to pitch nearly a complete game against Bethesda, pitching 8.1 innings with 10 hits, six runs. The Eagles held the lead thanks to the tie-breaking homer hit by junior shortstop Alec de Watteville in the bottom of the eighth inning.
However, after loading the bases with no outs, the Flames came back with a three-run ninth inning and beat the Eagles 5-7.
A REFOCUS TIME
With their 5-11 record, the Eagles look ahead to their next GSAC matchup against the Westmont College Warriors. Although their season record is below even, the Eagles hold a 1-2 conference record while the Warriors are only one game above them in the GSAC standings.
“We’ve had three conference games, we’re 1-2,” Meyer said. “None of these other games really matter. It’s almost like a refocus time and we’re ready to see what we can actually do. We have played three games so far that mattered and took one against a decent team.”
Despite being second to last in their conference, topping Hope International University, who are 1-5, the Eagles remain merely 1.5 games behind the conference-leading Vanguard Lions and San Diego Christian College Hawks, who are both 4-2.
Their three game series against Westmont begins on Friday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m.
