BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Just over 24 hours after The Master's blew out Biola, the Eagles came back with a blowout of their own, pounding out 23 runs on 24 hits to beat the Mustangs 23-6 on Thursday afternoon at Eagles Diamond in La Mirada.
No. 9-ranked Biola, which was beat 15-2 on Wednesday by The Master's, improves to 19-7 on the season and 13-6 in GSAC play. The Mustangs fall to 15-17 and 8-11 in conference.
The Eagles came close to a number of school records in the game as their 23 runs and 24 hits were both two shy of the school record.
Sophomore David West made the most of his two plate appearances, coming off the bench to hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, then blasted a grand slam in the eighth. He finished with seven RBI, matching the school record set by Rand Wagner in a game against Claremont College in 1996.
Freshman Derek Dietzen picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the season, giving up three runs on seven hits over 5-2/3 innings for Biola.
The game was actually very close through the first five innings before the Eagles blew it open with seven runs in the sixth, three in the eighth and six in the ninth.
After each team scored a run in the first, The Master's took a 2-1 lead in the second thanks to an RBI-double by Pete Goeman. The Mustangs added another run in the third on a home run by Caleb Mintz to go up 3-1.
But Biola came right back with three in the bottom of the third on an RBI-single by Matt Smith and a two-run single by Tim Wells to go ahead by a 4-3 count.
Dietzen looked to be struggling in the top of the fifth inning as the Mustangs loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks. However, he came back to strike out A.J. Morris to end the threat and keep the lead.
The Eagles then added three in their half of the fifth thanks to a three-run shot by Matt McQueen.
Biola then batted around in the sixth and scored seven times to blwo the game wide open. Chris Foreman led off the inning with a solo home run and freshman catcher Daniel Bodemer capped the scoring with a three-run bomb to left centerfield. The hit also extended his hitting streak to a team-best 10 games.
In the seventh, West's first home run of the game made it 17-3 with an absolute blast to dead centerfield. Biola then batted around again in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away.
Senior Nick Dietzen helped out his little brother by going 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Danny Morrow, Biola's lead off hitter, went 3-for-7 with three runs scored with Foreman adding a 3-for-5 day at the plate including a run and an RBI.
Biola returns to action on Saturday (Mar. 24), hosting No. 3 Azusa Pacific in a huge GSAC doubleheader between the top two teams in the league. The doubleheader begins at 12 noon.
