Box Score PHOENIX, Ariz. --- Now, more than ever, the Eagles needed a solid Golden State Athletic Conference win. It has been a long, rough week on Biola's arms and bats, and it got just the relief it needed with a 5-3 win in game one against Arizona Christian.
 
Biola has been stuck under .500 ever since getting swept in their first in-conference series of the season two weeks ago. The team has been battling back slowly, and get back on top with a sweep over ACU this weekend.
 
They got off to a strong start behind the big left arm of Garrett Picha. It was the first game with a scheduled Biola starter since the concluding game of last Saturday's doubleheader against Westmont.
 
Picha made it count, getting his third win of the season and holding the Firestorm to just three runs on seven hits over seven innings.

"Garrett gave us a really solid performance," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "You have to give them some credit, because they are the first team who started to figure him out at the end, but he put in a great day."
 
The Eagles' bats got the scoring started on Friday afternoon, as they played small ball to parlay a two-hit inning into a run in the top of the third. Michael Annunziata had the bases loaded with just one out and he made it count, knocking in Luke Klocek with a fielder's choice.
 
A leadoff double off Picha turned into one run for the Firestorm in the bottom half of that inning, making it look like another tight GSAC contest.
 
The Eagles finally got some consistent offense over the course of the next two innings to build a big three-run lead. Klocek continued his hot streak by getting two RBI in the fourth inning and going 2-4 on the day.

"Luke has been getting some good at bats for us," said Sullenger. "The at bat where he got a few RBIs was actually not going great, but he battled and found a way to put it in play, and got good results."
 
After two one-run innings for ACU, including a seventh-inning solo homerun, Picha was pulled heading into the eighth as Biola's lead shrunk to 4-3. Bryan Castelli and Sage Poland both made quick work of the Firstorm in the final two innings, facing just one more than the minimum number of batters.
 
Poland picked up his first save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

"It was one of our better games of the year, if not our best game yet," said Sullenger. "We performed well in all three phases of the game today. When that all comes together you are going to win a lot more games."
 
The Eagles improve to 5-7 (3-4 GSAC) and drop ACU to 1-6 (1-6 GSAC). The series will conclude with two games tomorrow. Game one begins with the first pitch at 10 a.m. (PST).