BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola scored four runs in each of the first two innings and cruised to an easy 12-3 win over Westmont College in a GSAC game Thursday afternoon at Eagles Diamond in La Mirada.
The Eagles improve to 9-5 on the season with their fifth-straight win and are now above .500 in conference play at 5-4. Westmont drops to 1-13 on the season adn 0-10 in conference.
Offense was the order of the day for Biola as the Eagles scored 12 runs while pounding out 16 hits to break out of a bit of an offensive slump. Sophomore Hawkins Gebbers had a monster day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Juniors Matt Smith and Danny Morrow each had a pair of hits in the contest.
The Eagles jumped all over Westmont starter Jamie Barth, scoring seven runs on just three hits as Barth was able to record just four outs. Gebbers got things going with a two-RBI double down the leftfield line, followed by a single by Smith to plate Nick Dietzen with Gebbers scoring on an error.
In the second, Scott Nelson picked up an RBI with a double to right centerfield, then scored on a single by Gebbers. Smith would add another RBI single to make it 7-0 and David West would cap the early scoring with a sacrifice fly to score Gebbers.
Westmont would get one back in the fourth by taking advantage of a Biola error, then added another in the fifth on a towering home run by Phillip Valle. The Warriors would score one more run in the top of the seventh as Andy Dude snuck a two-out single through the leftside of the infield.
Biola added another four-spot in the bottom of the eighth with as sophomore Chris Foreman and freshman Daniel Bodemer each had two-RBI doubles.
Sophomore Derek Dietzen picked up his first win of the season, going five innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out three. Sophomore Charlie Gausepohl pitched 1-2/3 innings of relief and allowed a run on six hits.
Freshman Justin Rodriguez retired all four batters he faced before giving way to junior Tom Glassman, who struck out the side in the ninth.
Biola returns to action on Saturday (Mar. 3) for a GSAC doubleheader with San Diego Christian College at home. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
