Box Score SAN MARCOS, Calif. --- Biola baseball broke out the cleats, belt and hats and got a new season underway on Tuesday, earning a season-opening 7-6 victory over CSU San Marcos in dramatic fashion.
 
Biola got an early lead, then trailed through most of the middle of the game before senior centerfielder, Rob Groeschell, came up to the plate in the top of the eighth inning and singled home the game-tying and game-winning runs for the Eagles.
 
"It was a good first win, and a great effort from the team as a whole," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "We got out to a lead and then faltered a little bit, but nobody panicked. We had a really good pitching performance from each guy. There wasn't a guy that didn't come in and find the zone and throw well."
 
Hits and base runners were a plenty in this one as they began to come early and often on both sides. The Eagles got runners to the corners with a chance to score before the second out of the game was even registered, prefacing a solid day in the batter's box.
 
The Eagles took advantage of a shaky pitching performance from all of the Cougars' arms, but especially their starter, Manny Barragan. Barragan allowed three runs to Biola in the second inning, which opened the scoring.
 
After getting two quick outs, Barragan allowed a Tanner Swire single, followed by a Groeschell single and stolen base and an Andrew Smith double, which resulted in two runs and RBI for Groeschell and Smith. Tucie Shelp followed Smith, reaching base on an error as Smith came around to score. There was another error, a walk and a wild pitch in that inning, but no more runs would cross. Barragan ended up going 3.1 innings, allowing five hits, three runs and walking four.
 
"We had a ton of base runners, and had an opportunity to score many more runs than we did, but at the end we got in done when we needed to, making for a great first day," said Sullenger.
 
The Eagles' three-spot was followed by one run for the Cougars in the bottom of the second, one of two charged to Biola's starter, Jesse Yancosek, who went 2.2 innings in the opener.
 
The Cougars did most of their damage in the following frame, utilizing a single, double and homerun to claim a 5-3 advantage heading into the fourth. Nothing happened for the next two innings, but Biola began to chip away at the two-run lead in the sixth inning when another ball rolled to the backstop and allowed Shelp to score.
 
CSU San Marcos found its first run since the third inning in bottom of the sixth when a walk and a single were followed by a wild pitch that allowed the runners to move to second and third. A Tyler Place single plated one run before Sean Rothfuss got a flyout to end the inning.
 
That was all the scoring the Cougars had in them as Rothfuss, Brandon Valente and Daniel Jang closed out the game and Groeschell's heroics got it done on the offensive side of the ball.
 
"It was good to see some freshmen come in and close out the game for us, with Valente and Jang's strong performances," said Sullenger. "Everybody performed well, Rob got a few big hits and we had a number of good at bats out of other guys."
 
Groeschell ended the day 3-for-4 with four RBI, a two-bagger and a walk. Tanner Swire also had a three-hit day and added two walks to reach base in all five of his plate appearances. Andrew Frank and Paul Slater also added two walks apiece as all but two of the Eagles' starters reached base in this one.
 
The Eagles move to 1-0, while the Cougars drop to 0-1. Biola's season continues as Golden State Athletic Conference play opens with a three-game home series versus Vanguard on Friday and Saturday.