Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola got its Golden State Athletic Conference season underway on Tuesday, entering play against Vanguard with high hopes, but leaving the field with two excruciating losses after an inability to score base runners led to two losses.
 
Vanguard rode the arm of Rachel Stalford in the opener, holding Biola to just one run, in the form of a solo shot from Anjie Amezquita, in a 1-3 loss. The next game saw Biola get an early lead, but two homeruns from the Lions led them to a 3-2 win over the Eagles.
 
Biola's pitching did a great job of limiting the Vanguard hitters in the batter's box, holding the Lions to just 10 hits on the day. Vanguard came into the day with a team batting average at just under .400 so far this season.
 
The Eagles were able to outhit Vanguard, but had a lot less pop and a lot less success moving runners around the base paths. The Lions got seven of their 10 hits for extra bases, including hitting three balls outside of Freedom Field. Biola got one homer, three doubles and a bunch of singles, but never had an inning with more than two hits.
 
"We're not generating enough runs in a timely manner," said Head Coach Lorie Coleman. "All the things are happening as they should, but we're just not getting those timely hits."
 
Game one was 1-1 into the fourth inning, when the Lions did their damage on a RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to take the 3-1 lead it would eventually win by. Those runs stemmed from an inning-opening double and a rescinded out that caused Terri Van Dagens to be pulled from the game.
 
Biola got runners into scoring position in their half of the fourth and in their last chance during the seventh inning, but could not bring anything around against Stalford, who improved to 6-0 with the win.
 
The Eagles took a lead in the first inning of game two, combining a Brooke Madrid single, a balk and a Selina Sherlin single to manufacture a run off of the Lions' new starter, Shelby Ross.
 
Vanguard was able to answer immediately in the top half of the second, getting an inning-opening double followed immediately by the second of Vanguard's two homeruns on the afternoon.
 
That made it a 2-1 game and forced Van Dagens out of the game early, again. Kimmy Triolo came in and walked back-to-back batters before Coleman pulled her in favor of Reba DePriest. DePriest walked a batter to load the bases with one out, but she worked her way out of it with the strikeout.
 
DePriest was fantastic in relief for Biola is game one and game two, going 9.2 innings and allowing just one earned run. She struckout 12 and walked three as she kept Biola in each of the games.
 
"Reba had a great day, and Terri also held them down, but we just couldn't get the offense. I think good days are coming," said Coleman.
 
The one earned run DePriest did surrender came in the fourth inning of game two, when Haley Croce hit Vanguard's third homerun of the afternoon and stretched it to a 3-1 VUSC lead.
 
Heather Hall opened Biola's half of the fourth inning with a double, her only hit of the afternoon, and would score on a Ross wild pitch.
 
That was it for the scoring as Biola drops to 10-6 (0-2 GSAC) and the Lions move up to 13-1 (2-0 GSAC). The Eagles are back in action on Friday at Embry-Riddle and on Saturday at Arizona Christian.