Baseball faced off against rival Azusa Pacific University for the second doubleheader in as many days on Saturday. Following two losses on Friday, the Eagles won today’s first game 17-15 but fell short 7-4 in the second contest.

IMPRESSIVE OFFENSE

In game one, the Eagles recorded their best inning of the year in the top of the 1st. The scoring started with an RBI single from junior designated hitter RJ Bates. Two more singles from senior third baseman Joey Magro and sophomore right fielder Ryan Gallegos made the score 3-0. The singles kept coming for Biola and the score stood at 8-0 when Bates came back around to hit for the second time in the inning. He belted a huge three-run home run to cap off an 11 run inning for the Eagles and give them an early lead.

The Cougars responded with a run in their half of the first, but Bates got the run back for the Eagles with a double to make it 12-1. APU rallied, however, scoring 10 runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to make the game close at 12-11. A costly error from the Cougars allowed Biola to tack on two more runs in the sixth, and sophomore first baseman Jackson Collins gave Biola some much-needed insurance runs in the seventh inning with a three-RBI double. The Cougars once again came back with more runs to close it to 17-15 in the seventh, but the Eagles avoided a blown lead and picked up the win.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE

After a back-and-forth game to start the day, game two proved to have less drama and less offense. Once again, though, the Eagles came out strong in the first inning with a two-RBI single from Magro. Sophomore centerfielder Brandon Cody then launched a home run in the second to make it 3-0 Biola.

The Cougars rallied for two runs in their half of the second to bring the score to 3-2. A wild pitch in the third extended the lead for Biola as senior left fielder Jerron Largusa came home. A two-RBI single from APU tied the game at four after three innings, and the Cougars took over the game from there. Two more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth made it 7-4 Cougars, and the Eagles could not muster any more offense to rally back as they dropped the series finale 7-4.

Biola (16-12, 7-9 PacWest) will return home to take on Fresno Pacific University in a doubleheader on Friday at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.