Baseball did it all in their wild four-game series at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on March 2-3. After getting blown out in the opener, the Eagles won the next three games behind hot hitting, late rallies and the continued excellence of senior ace pitcher Micah Beyer.
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The Eagles got a rude welcome to Hawaii’s big island when the Vulcans erupted for six runs against redshirt freshman pitcher Christian Hammar and junior pitcher Devin Sutorious. The score remained that way until the seventh, when senior outfielder Jerron Largusa homered to put the Eagles on the board. However, Hilo responded with six more runs in the bottom of the frame and added another three in the eighth, solidifying a 15-1 beatdown of Biola.
Hilo continued its scorching hitting in game two, but this time Biola’s bats responded at the plate. The Eagles and Vulcans traded blows early, as the visitors scored six times in the first four frames but the home team tagged junior starting pitcher Troy Stainbrook for seven runs over his four innings of work. The Eagles took the lead for good with a six-run fifth, loading the bases multiple times and getting clutch RBI hits from freshman outfielder Brandon Cody and senior first baseman Colton Worthington. The Eagles tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth and pulled away with a three-run ninth punctuated by Cody’s two-run single. When the dust settled, the 17-12 final score looked like something out of “MLB: The Show”.
GALLEGOS STAYS HOT
On March 3, the Vulcans hardly looked like the same team that had scored 27 runs the day before. Beyer shone once again in the first game, allowing a run on four hits and striking out 12 in eight innings of work. However, it looked like the Eagles would not capitalize as Hilo’s pitcher outdueled Beyer for most of the game. However, that changed in the ninth when Largusa led off with a single and freshman outfielder Ryan Gallegos followed that up by launching a home run into left, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead with just three outs to spare. Senior closer Daniel Jiang took care of the rest, pitching a scoreless ninth for his sixth save of the season.
Senior starting pitcher Wyatt Haccou struggled in the series finale, as Hilo jumped on him for five runs over his first two innings of work. The Eagles’ bats slowly clawed back. Sophomore third baseman Jacob Portaro followed his two-run home run in the second inning with a two-run single in the fourth. In the fifth, Cody scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly from Worthington, then Gallegos singled home Largusa for the go-ahead run. Portaro gave the Eagles some insurance with another two-run single, giving him a whopping six RBI on the day. The Eagles’ bullpen locked it down from there, shutting the door on a 9-5 series-clinching victory.
For their performances in Hawaii, Beyer won PacWest pitcher of the week while Gallegos won PacWest freshman of the week. It marks the first time the team has been honored in weekly PacWest awards.
Biola currently stands at 12-4 on the season and 6-2 in conference. The Eagles returned to Eagles Diamond to take on old Golden State Athletic Conference foe Vanguard University on March 6 at 2 p.m.
