With only six Golden State Athletic Conference matchups left in the season, the Eagles stand right in the middle of the battle for fourth place in the conference.
Fifth Place
Every year the top four teams in GSAC compete in the conference tournament. After an incredibly successful series against the Arizona Christian University Firestorm, the Eagles are in fifth place, holding a 5-7 conference record.
“We knew that they didn’t have much depth in their pitching,” said Sean Rothfuss, senior right-handed pitcher. “And we knew that once we got to their bullpen we could take off on them.”
Jumping Ahead
Although the Eagles jumped ahead in game one with a three-run first inning, thanks to RBIs from junior catcher Sam Thorne, junior shortstop JD Meyer and senior leftfielder Jeremy Barth, the Firestorm answered with two runs in the bottom of the second. The Eagles lost their one-run lead with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, which ultimately cost Biola the game. Despite senior starting pitcher Eric Diomartich dropping to 1-4, both Thorne and senior designated hitter Eugene Shin both went 2-4.
“Our starting pitchers did really well,” said Andrew Frank, junior outfielder. “They all had quality starts, going six or more innings and giving up three or less runs. They did really well, which is what we needed to give our bullpen a break. We also hit really well and we only had three errors during the weekend, so every facet of the game was working for us.”
Unable to Catch Up
However, the Eagles bounced back from their 3-5 defeat and won the second game of the series 5-3. With the Eagles leading 1-0 going into the fifth inning, the Eagles’ offense jumped on the Firestorm’s starting pitcher and scored three runs in the top of the fifth.
Although the Firestorm scored two runs off sophomore starting pitcher Micah Beyer in the bottom of the fifth, they were unable to catch up to the Eagles. Beyer received the win for the game after pitching seven innings, allowing four hits and two runs and improved to 3-3 on the season.
Third Game
In the third game of the series, the Eagles took a substantial 10-1 lead by the fifth inning after a pair of back-to-back five-run innings. Although he stayed quiet in the first game, junior shortstop Alec de Watteville led the Eagles’ offense, going 3-3 with five RBIs and hitting his sixth home run of the season. An RBI single hit by Frank ended up the last run of the game and Biola ended the series winning 11-1.
“This series was important, going into this series we were pretty much tied with Arizona Christian in the middle,” said Frank. “The top four teams in GSAC go to the tournament, so we’re battling with Arizona, Master’s and Westmont for the fourth spot.”
Returning Home
Now in fifth place, the only thing standing in Biola’s way to the GSAC tournament include six conference matchups and The Master’s College Mustangs, who are currently in fourth place. The Eagles return home to face off against the Mustangs in a three game series, starting on Friday, March 18 at 3 p.m.
