After a devastating series against the Westmont College Warriors on April 22, the Eagles dropped two places in the Golden State Athletic Conference and only hold a one game lead on the last playoff spot.

Unrewarded

Productive offense and quality pitching went unrewarded as Biola was swept in their three-game series against the Warriors. Aside from the series opener, the Eagles never gave the Warriors a comfortable lead, losing the last two games by one run. While Biola lost three in a row, the Menlo College Oaks won three in a row, knocking the Eagles down to fifth place with a 14-13 record in GSAC.

In spite of losing the series, the Eagles performed considerably better against the Warriors than when they faced them earlier in the season. Not only were they swept, but Westmont outscored Biola 23-5 through three games. In their most recent series, the Eagles held the Warriors to 15 total runs and scored four more off Westmont’s pitching staff than in their first set.

The series at Westmont started on a high note for the Eagles, who took a quick four-run lead in the top of the third from a three-run home run hit by junior shortstop Alec de Watteville. Their lead was short lived, however, as the Warriors jumped on senior starting pitcher Eric Diomartich and scored seven runs in the bottom of the third. Westmont added another run in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Eagles 8-4 in the series opener.

Junior starting pitcher Jimmy Gallarda lost a tough, one-run pitchers’ duel in the middle game of the series. Despite pitching seven quality innings, allowing four hits and one run, Gallarda was handed the loss after the Warriors’ pitching staff silenced the Eagles’ offense. The only Eagle to have multiple hits in the game was junior designated hitter Sam Thorne as Biola was shut out by Westmont, losing 0-1.

Hanging on

Biola looked to hold off being swept through most of the series finale, once again scoring four runs in the top of the third. De Watteville hit an RBI double and junior rightfielder Jeremy Barth hit his first home run of the season, which gave the Eagles a 5-2 lead by the bottom of the fifth.

Despite sophomore starting pitcher Gabe Ihrig keeping the Eagles in the lead with a two-run outing, the Warriors battled back against Biola’s bullpen and eventually won in the final inning of the game. Back-to-back hits in the bottom of the seventh proved the fatal blow for junior left-handed pitcher Buddy Brouwer, who pitched 2.1 innings and allowed three runs, as they lost the series finale 5-6.

Now holding fifth place and the final play-off spot in the conference, the Eagles’ magic number reduces to one. They lead San Diego Christian College by a razor-thin margin of one game and with three conference games left to play, Biola hopes to hang onto fifth place and compete in the GSAC tournament.

The Eagles conclude their regular season with a three-game series against the second place Vanguard University Lions, starting on Friday, April 29 at 3 p.m.