Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. ---
Mac Sullivan hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning to tie the game and
Benji Sutherland followed later in the frame with a sacrifice fly to give Biola the lead for good in a come-from-behind 6-4 win over Westmont College in a GSAC game on Friday afternoon.
The Eagles improve to 9-10 on the season and to 3-3 in conference play with the win--their third-straight. The Warriors fall to 6-11, 1-5 in the GSAC.
Neither team was able to get much through the first two innings as the pitchers settled into the contest. Biola pushed across the first run in the third inning, taking advantage of a Westmont error to score the first run of the game.
After retiring the first nine Westmont batters, Biola starter Chris Baek ran into trouble in the third and wasn't helped out much by his defense. Baek surrounded a bunt single to open the inning and one-out later allowed another single. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, he struck out the next batter and looked to be out of the inning on a fly ball to left. However, the ball was dropped for an error, allowing two runs to score and extending the inning. A fielding error on the next play opened the door again for the Warriors and an RBI single by the next hitter made it a 3-1 game after four.
The Warriors would tally another run and chase Baek from the game in the fifth inning, taking a 4-1 lead into the sixth.
But Biola answered back with a four-spot in the top of the sixth. Wesley Cottier was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Dustin Williams followed with a double down the left-field line. Mac Sullivan then cleared the bases with a home run to tie the game at 4-4. Michael Annunziata followed the blast with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Paul Slater. A wild pitch moved him to third and Sutherland's sacrifice fly gave Biola the lead right back.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a double by Cottier which brought around Fayard, who led off with a single.
The Biola bullpen shut down the Warriors the rest of the way as three relievers combined to allow just one hit and one walk over the final 4-2/3 innings. Erick Allen picked up the win in relief, going 3-2/3 innings while allowing one hit and striking out three, retiring eight-straight batters at one point. Javier Martinez retired the lone batter he faced in the ninth and J.T. Mickelson ended the game with two-straight groundouts.
The two teams close out the four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Biola beginning at 11:00 a.m.
