Box Score EL CAJON, Calif. --- Biola has been a late inning team all season long, and Friday afternoon's contest at No. 22 San Diego Christian was no different. The Eagles got relatively nothing on offense through the first six innings and then scored four in the last three, but they still lost to the Hawks in their series-opener.
 
The Eagles fell just one run short of keeping the game tied and forcing extra-innings when they gave up one last run to the Hawks in the eighth inning.
 
The Hawks were getting on Biola's pitching throughout most of the day, starting in the very early stages of the game.
 
Bryan Castelli was roughed up for four runs over the first two innings and seven total over his five frames of work. The Hawks used an unconventional tool to help build their early lead­­– the triple.
 
San Diego Christian was able to get two triples and a double in the first inning, and they also tacked on one more of each in the second frame as they started a merry-go-round around the bases with the extra-base hits.
 
They had seven base knocks worth two bags or more, including a homerun, but it was a flyout that did the most damage to the Eagles, as a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the eighth scored the Hawks' eighth run and put them on top for good.
 
Biola had just two extra-base hits all day long, but they did manage to draw six walks and pick up 16 total hits to garner plenty of opportunities for scoring.

"We played well in comparison with where we have been," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "We haven't had a lot of baserunners on all year long, but today we did."
 
Michael Annunziata and Sam Thorne led the way with three hits each, and Luke Klocek, Boone Farrington and Tanner Swire each had two. It was both Annunziata and Klocek's ninth multi-hit game of the season.

Swire's hits were important because he picked them up near the bottom of the lineup, providing a spark of offense where the Eagles were not necessarily anticipating it. He reached base four times from the No. 9 spot in the order.

"Tanner had a really solid day for us in the back half of the lineup," said Sullenger.
 
After the Hawks built their early 4-1 advantage Biola had to get its bats working in order to keep the game from getting out of hand.
 
They picked up two runs in the third inning after getting the bases loaded. One came off a walk to David McNeill and the other off a Sage Poland groundout.
 
The game was within reach and the Eagles seemed poised to take control as they were continually getting runners on base each inning. Then the Hawks got a three-run homerun in the fourth and it seemed as if another insurmountable lead was in place for SDCC at 7-3.

"It was unfortunate, because we just didn't get the quality effort on the mound that we needed today," said Sullenger.
 
Mark Vasquez blanked the Eagles for three straight innings before finally breaking through with a solid showing in the seventh. They scored three runs in the frame, two coming off a McNeill single and the other off a wild pitch.

They again left runners on base at the end of the inning as they fell just one run shy of tying it up. That run came in the top of the very next inning as Klocek got his 10^th RBI of the season with a single to tie the ballgame at seven.
 
The Eagles seemed primed to take this one away from the Hawks, seeing that they've outscored opponents 43-30 over the final three frames this season. However, Jacob Rogers had different plans when he hit the sacrifice fly that scored Gilber Viera in the bottom of the eighth and sealed the win for SDCC.
 
It goes down as a tough-luck loss for Sean Rothfuss who gave up just three hits in 2.1 innings pitched in relief. He drops to 2-3 on the season while Hawks' reliever, Joey Aquino, improves to 2-0 despite also giving up one run.
 
The Eagles fall to 8-18 (4-11 GSAC) and face San Diego Christian for two more games tomorrow.