Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 COSTA MESA, Calif. --- Biola's offense finally broke out in a big way in the third game of this three-game set at Vanguard, picking up a 9-2 win in Saturday's second game to salvage one of three after losing game one, 2-4.
 
Consistent hitting early in the game helped Vanguard build a 3-0 lead off Micah Beyer through the first four innings of the opener. The Lions got eight of their 12 total hits from that ballgame in those first four innings before their offense began to slow.
 
The Eagles tallied three hits through those four innings, but left all four on base as they were held scoreless by Vanguard starter, Scott Torrey.
 
Torrey had things working for him throughout the day, going 6.1 innings of pitching to contact and leaving the game with the lead. He allowed eight hits in his time on the bump, but only two of them resulted in any damage for the Eagles, who had a had time getting the ball out of the infield in the opener.
 
The Eagles' only two runs of the game came on back-to-back hits in the top of the fifth inning, as an Andy Smith double scored Rob Groeschell and then Tanner Swire bopped a single to left field to bring home Smith.
 
After that scoring, Torrey buckled down and Marshall McKinnon came in and got a 2.2 inning save for the Lions, holding Biola scoreless for the rest of the game. The Eagles got a runner to third base in two of those final four innings, but could not find a way to push anything home, while Vanguard added an insurance run for itself in the seventh inning.
 
Game two was all about the offense for Biola, which rebounded from two paltry hitting performances to begin the weekend with a big outing to end it with a bang.
 
While the Eagles had two fewer innings to work with, they made the most of it, scoring six more runs than they scored in either of the other two games of the series to back up a strong outing from Eric Diomartich on the mound.
 
The Eagles got the scoring started early, getting two runs in each of the first two innings off of Lions' starter Jordan Moak. Moak would only last those two innings as Biola's five hits, only one for extra-bases, built the four-run lead.
 
The most exciting of those four runs scored was the last one, as Rob Groeschell got the Eagles' second steal of home plate this season. Right after Andrew Frank scored on a passed ball a few pitches earlier, Groeschell scampered home to extend the Eagles' lead.
 
Meanwhile, Diomartich was posting a performance very similar to what Torrey was doing to Biola in the early game. He was relying on getting a lot of groundouts to hold the Lions at bay and get through his innings quickly. He had four groundouts through his scoreless first two innings of work, including a double play.
 
He allowed one run to Vanguard in the third inning to allow them back within two runs, but that is as close as the Lions would get for the remainder of the game.
 
That is because after tacking on one more run off a Paul Slater RBI single in the fourth, Biola exploded for four runs in the fifth inning to hit the nine-run mark, a number they've hit at least once in each of the previous four series (all resulting in wins).
 
Biola got four singles from the first five batters in the fifth to get the base runners they needed to start the huge inning. A fielder's choice groundout scored one, a wild pitch scored another, a sacrifice fly plated the third and the sixth single of the inning got Biola's final run of the day on the board.
 
The Eagles also notched three stolen bases in the inning. They had seven in the second game, including two each from Swire, Groeschell and Jeremy Barth.
 
After Diomartich finished his six innings of six-hit, two-run baseball, Jimmy Gallarda came in and retired the Lions in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure Biola's ninth Golden State Athletic Conference win of the year, keeping it in fifth place in the conference.

The series-ending victory moved Biola to 11-17 (9-15 GSAC) and dropped Vanguard to 20-12 (14-10 GSAC). Biola needs just two more conference victories to tie last year's season total. It will look to get those two wins in its next conference series, at home next weekend against The Master's College. Before that, Biola hosts Providence Christian for a single game on March 17.