At the end of their 12-game stretch of Golden State Athletic Conference matchups, the Eagles fell to fifth place thanks to a doubleheader sweep on March 21 from the San Diego Christian College Hawks.

The deciding factor

Biola’s run of conference games began with a sweep of the second-place Hope International University Royals on Feb. 25. They proceeded to bounce around an even conference record over the course of their next eight games before the Hawks knocked them down to a 5-7 conference record.

A pair of runs in the first inning allowed by junior starting pitcher Terri Van Dagens proved the deciding factor in the Eagles’ 2-0 loss in the doubleheader opener. Although Biola outhit the Hawks 5-4, they stranded seven runners on base.

When a walk put senior second baseman Maranda Galindo on second base, that turned out to be the closest the Eagles came to scoring in the game.

Another two-run first inning of the second game gave the Hawks the lead in their eventual 3-1 win over the Eagles. The normally dominant senior starting pitcher Kimmy Triolo recorded only one out after three walks, one hit-by-pitch and two runs.

Sealed defeat

Freshman catcher Kayla Neff hit her third home run of the season in the third, but the Hawks made up for it with a run in the fourth. Although the Eagles put runners on first and second with one out in the final inning, a pop up and fly out sealed their defeat.

The Eagles hope to gain offensive momentum in their next series, a non-conference doubleheader against Simpson University starting at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 23.