Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola stumbled through an afternoon contest with Bethesda on Wednesday afternoon, losing 7-6 despite a late-inning comeback attempt.
 
"We have to give credit to Bethesda," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "They had some timely hitting, and that is what wins games. On our end, we always talk about the three facets, your hitting, pitching and defense.  We didn't really do any of the three very well."
 
Konanui Olson got the call to start against Bethesda for the second time this season. He and the Eagles won the ballgame against the Flames the last time out, 10-8.
 
Olson had a solid first two innings, and then was tagged with two hits and two runs in the third frame. That got the Flames the lead they needed, and they continued to add on from there.
 
Biola plated its first run in the bottom half of the third inning when a fielder's choice ground ball by Michael Annunziata, coupled with a Bethesda throwing error, helped Rob Groeschell cross the plate. That run became the first of 10 unearned run that would score on the afternoon in what was a very ugly outing in the field on both sides.
 
Bethesda's defense allowed 10 hits and surrendered four errors, while the Eagles pitchers gave up 15 hits and the defense committed two mistakes.
 
Defesnive lapses led to a three-run fifth inning for Bethesda, as they took a 5-1 advantage on the Eagles headed into the late innings.
 
Groeschell scored his second of three runs on the day in the bottom of the fifth as Sam Thorne hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Biola chomped even deeper into Bethesda's lead in the seventh when Andrew Frank clanked a single up the middle to score Groeschell again. The score stood at 5-3 as Biola looked poised for a comeback with Jimmy Gallarda throwing well on the mound.
 
Frank had a strong outing in his sixth start of the season. He was 2-for-4 overall with the one RBI. He also added a walk to reach base safely three times.
 
"We are scratching and clawing, just like I'd like the players to be doing right now," said Sullenger. "We are trying to find ways to win ballgames by finding guys who have been taking good hacks and working hard in practice. It was nice to see Andrew take good swings, and we hope that will continue moving forward."
 
Immediately following Frank's RBI at bat, the Flames went out and tacked two runs onto their total in the top of the eighth to leave Biola trailing by four with just six outs to work with.
 
The Eagles got three hits, and benefitted from two Bethesda errors, in the eighth inning as they put up three runs to close the gap to just one. However, they did leave two runners on base who could have equaled the score or given Biola a lead.
 
Joshua Perez moved from right field to the mound for the final inning for Bethesda and shut down the Eagles in order, ending any hope of a comeback and sealing Bethesda's seventh win of the season.
 
""Even though we scored six runs and nearly came back, it really would not have mattered if we did or not," said Sullenger. "A win would have looked better, but the difference would have been the same to us. We put ourselves in good situations throughout the game, but we got ourselves out."
 
The Eagles fall to 8-15 on the season, and will continue their quest for improvement in a weekend series at Vanguard (10-8, 5-7 GSAC).