Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- In his final time suiting up for a start before the hometown fans at Eagles Diamond senior Eric Diomartich delivered quite the quality pitching performance to put the Eagles in fantastic position to win the series opener against Menlo College on Friday.
 
Unfortunately, even with Diomartich going 7.2 innings and allowing just six hits and three runs (one coming on a solo homerun just before he was given the hook, Biola wound up losing the ballgame in excruciating fashion.
 
It was a game that Biola controlled from the get go as the home team scored one in the second, twice in the fourth and another three times in the fifth to build a commanding 6-2 lead behind the strong left arm of Diomartich.
 
The stat that Eagles broadcaster Brandon Taylor began to spout out at this point was the Biola was 13-2 in 2016 when scoring first in the ballgame and 18-1 when BU out-hit its opponents.
 
Both of these criteria were met in full during this ballgame as BU piled on early and would outhit Menlo College 12-7 overall, but a horrendous top of the ninth inning would be what ultimately sealed the negative fate for the Eagles on this beautiful Friday afternoon at Eagles Diamond.
 
All season long the top guys in the Biola bullpen have been a source of strength and relative consistency for Head Coach Jay Sullenger. That would not quite be the case in this one though as the Oaks managed to hang a five spot to steal the lead in the ninth despite collecting just a single hit in the inning.
 
Biola held a four-run lead and needed to retire just three more hitters heading into the ninth, but a hit-by-pitch and back-to-back walks would load the bases for the Oaks immediately and force Sullenger to turn to Buddy Brouwer with no outs and the bases loaded.
 
Even at this point there was no need for Biola fans to panic as Brouwer came in with plenty of wiggle room and had a league-leading 0.40 ERA in Golden State Athletic Conference competition coming into this outing.
 
Unfortunately, after getting a quick first out on a sacrifice fly, the junior reliever had some trouble hitting his spots, and he was not aided in any way by a shrinking ninth-inning strike zone from the home plate umpire.
 
Brouwer would allow a single through the left side hole and then walked two, hit one and suffered from a throwing error as Menlo piled on to steal the lead and ultimately steal the game.
 
The Oaks turned to Lucas Erceg, who was their third-baseman and who hit his 16^th homerun of the season earlier in the game, to earn the save as Biola sent up a beefy part in its order in the bottom of the ninth.

The transfer from Cal dialed up the hit and threw some 93-94 mph cheese past Jimmy Gallarda, Jerron Largusa and Jeremy Barth as he recorded two strikeouts and a groundout in a 1, 2, 3 inning that knocked all of the wind out of this Biola Baseball team.
 
With an ending like that it can be easy to get down, but the Eagles should look back and fondly remember Diomartich's great start, some strong fielding plays throughout and that they had 12 hits, including four for extra bases.
 
Sam Thorne went deep again (4), and he, Alec de Watteville, Gallarda and Barth all had strong multi-hit games. Gallarda and Barth both had three hits and combined for four RBI and three runs between the two of them. Gallarda is 5-for-8 with three RBI and five runs scored in his last two games.
 
Six batters were hit by pitches (three on each side) in what certainly was a wild one at Eagles Diamond. The two teams fall into a tie at fourth place in the GSAC standings as both end the day with a 12-10 conference record. They will play two on Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. It is Biola's senior day and last day of home baseball for 2016. The seniors will be honored between games.