ATHERTON, Calif. --- Biola overcame a six-run deficit and closed within one on a three-run blast by Mike Lopez, but could not get over the hump, falling 9-8 in a non-conference game at Menlo College on Tuesday.

The loss got the Eagles' six-game road trip off to a sour start as they fall to 2-1 on the season. The Oaks improve to 4-1 on the season.

Menlo got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first, but Biola answered back with a two-spot in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Benji Sutherland drove on a pair with a solid single to left. 

The Oaks tied up the game in the bottom of the inning thanks to an Eagle error. Menlo would add three runs in the fourth and another three in the fifth to chase starter Nate Coronado after just 4-1/3 innings. The senior was tagged for seven runs in all, walking three batters and striking out two.

After the teams exchanged runs, Biola still trailed 9-3 heading into the top of the eighth. Sutherland and Vinnie Fayard led off the inning with singles and a walk to Michael Andrews loaded the bases with one out. Garret Leon drove in the first run with an RBI ground out followed by a single by Drake Fages wich plated another. 

Lopez then cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left—his second of the season—to put the Eagles within one run. However, the inning would end with no further damage and—despite a leadoff single by Boone Farrington in the ninth, Biola was unable to tie the score late.

Fages went 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI and two runs scored while Fayard, Sutherland and Farrington each recorded a pair of hits. 

Biola heads over to Oakland to face Patten University in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday as the road trip continues. The twinbill begins at 11:00 a.m.