Box Score SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- It was not the outing anyone expected from Biola following two solid-hitting walk-off wins, especially with ace Garrett Picha on the mound for the first time this season, but the Eagles dropped their series-opener with The Master's College, 15-5.
 
The trouble began immediately, as the hot-hitting Mustangs hit for the cycle on the first four hits of the day, coming in their five-run first inning when they sent 11 batters to the plate against Picha.
 
TMC extended their lead to 7-0 before Picha handed the ball over to Sean McCarrell in the fourth inning. McCarrell was one of the few bright spots during this rough outing, going three innings in the middle of the game and holding the Mustangs without a run and to just two hits. He faced just 12 batters as he breezed through his frames.
 
Biola faced Hunter Totemeier in the seventh inning, as the 6-foot-4-inch sophomore took over for The Master's starter Jason Karkenny, who hurled five scoreless innings. Karkenny allowed Biola plenty of base runners, walking five, but thanks to solid defense from the Mustangs kept Biola off the board.
 
In that seventh inning Andrew Frank got a one-out single, one of his two hits on the day, before an Andrew Smith double set up runners on second and third for Tucie Shelp.
 
Shelp, who is second on the team in RBI, logged a two-run double to get the Eagles on the board, bringing the game to a 7-2 score, which is the closest it would be all game.
 
After McCarrell exited the game, Brandon Valente took the bump for Biola and TMC began to pile on the runs once more. A second five-run inning of the afternoon, coming in the bottom of the seventh, put this one out of reach at 13-2.
 
Key to that five-run inning was Steve Karkenny's second home run of the afternoon. He hit a two-run blast to push him to 2-for-3 with three RBI.
 
The Eagles posted two more runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to get the offense moving with the scoring coming too little, too late. Andres Rodriguez got his first RBI of the season on a double that scored Colin Brecheen to open the scoring in the eighth. A Frank single helped Rodriguez cross the plate for the first time in the season.
 
Despite the late surge, a TMC offense that posted 17 hits, including 10 for extra bases, was too much for the Eagles to overcome. The loss pushes Biola to 3-3 (1-3 GSAC) and helps the Mustangs improve to 3-2 (2-2 GSAC) on the year.
 
The two teams meet again for a doubleheader tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.