Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It was a rough ending to a rough series for Biola, as No. 12 Westmont completed the season series sweep with two runaway wins (15-3, 11-3) at Eagles Diamond.
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Eric Diomartich had the ball in the opener and had good stuff going, but the Westmont hitters were still able to find holes in Biola's defensive alignment and exploit them in the early going, resulting in 12 runs through the first four innings.
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In three of those innings the Warriors posted four runs, while Dio had a 1-2-3 inning in the other one. The difference in the innings where Westmont got runs on the board was their ability to get runners on early in the inning, getting two singles and a walk to begin all three innings with a runner on base.
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Steven Pollex figured something out about Diomartich when Biola's lanky lefty was on the hill, taking him deep once in the first and again in the fourth to post five RBI and two runs scored in his first three plate appearances.
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Biola's offense did little to keep up with the Warriors' extremely productive effort, doing all of their scoring in the fifth inning after getting four runners into scoring position and leaving them stranded through the first four innings.
The three game one runs were sparked by back-to-back singles by
Andrew Frank and
Paul Slater, who got on base to start the inning. An
Andy Smith walk loaded the bases to
Julian Jarrard, who got plunked to bring home the first run for the Eagles. A
Jeremy Barth sacrifice fly and
Eugene Shin RBI single represented to only other offense for Biola in that game.
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Diomartich exited the game after the fourth inning, leading into a relief combo of
Garrett Stevenson and
Daniel Jang. The two first-year Eagles finished the game out allowing just five more hits and three more runs to the potent Warriors offense.
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Optimism was flowing through Eagles Diamond heading into the second game of the afternoon as
Garrett Picha was starting and it was just a seven-inning game.
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That optimism began to fade after the first pitch as Westmont scored runs in each of the first five innings, including four runs through the first two innings that had it looking like another blowout early on.
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That view began to diminish momentarily as Biola again got all of its scoring done in one half-inning, the bottom of the second.
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An
Andres Rodriguez sacrifice fly and
Jimmy Gallarda's first homerun of his career, a two-run shot, brought the game back within one and was a big positive sign for the Eagles, who were facing a pitcher who had at least five big league scouts in attendance to watch him.
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While Biola's offense came to a screeching halt, despite Head Coach
Jay Sullenger's best efforts to create runs with steals, hit-and-run plays and bunts, the Warriors went on to score seven more times to complete their second sweep of Biola this season and finish the series outscoring BU 35-7.
The Eagles fall to 14-26 (10-23 GSAC) following their eighth-straight in-conference loss. Westmont became 31-8 (25-7 GSAC) to keep pace at 1.5 games behind No. 9 The Master's College in the GSAC standings.
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Biola does not get much of a spring break, facing Bethesda at home on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.Â