Skip To Main Content

Biola University Athletics

Scoreboard

The Official Athletic Site of the Biola University Eagles

Scoreboard

Two J's

Baseball Brandon Taylor, Sports Information Assistant

Hitting Parade Leaves Strong Impression in Win Over Vanguard

Biola takes the first game of the weekend series against No. 20 Vanguard.

Jimmy Gallarda and Jonas Wellan highlight Biola's 9-3 win over Vanguard.
Box Score COSTA MESA, Calif. --- After winning each of its first three games by one-run margins, Biola rode 14 hits and eight early runs on Friday to improve to 4-0 with a 9-3 win over No. 20 Vanguard. With another quality start, senior Jimmy Gallarda earned his first win of the season while dropping the Lions to 4-2.

The Eagles wasted no time in staking Gallarda with an early lead: two free passes to Sam Thorne and Jeremy Barth in the top of the first set the table for a knock from Jerron Largusa and a two-RBI single for Jonas Wellan.

Then the two Las Vegas, NV natives use their next at-bat to prove the first inning was just a warmup. Largusa and Wellan both hit homeruns against starter Tyler Skinner to balloon the Eagles lead to 8-0 by the end of the fourth inning. The Eagles scored all eight of those runs on two-out hits and chased Skinner after 3.2 innings with three runs in third and three in the fourth.

"As a team, we wanted to stay selective and stay back on the ball.This is the first time we saw Vanguard's pitcher and he had good velocity," said Wellan. "That approach really worked for when I hit the homerun: with two outs, I wanted to drive a pitch to the outfield and [Skinner] threw it in a good spot for me to hit."

Wellan now leads the team in RBI's and is hitting .467 after driving in four runs on three hits Friday.

In the meantime, Gallarda continued to hold opposing batters at bay with Vanguard producing just one base hit over the first four frames. The righty's scoreless streak to start the season would reach 12.2 innings before a two-run homerun from outfield Brock Eismann in the sixth made it an 8-2 game.

"Jimmy set the tone by working ahead in counts and setting up hitters to take bad swings," said Wellan. "And I think I speak for the defense behind him today in saying we were pumped to come up big for Jimmy with timely plays in a few tight spots."

Friday's eight inning outing was Gallarda's longest start since Feb. 20, 2016 against the Bethesda Flames. He finished with five strikeouts and 12 outs via groundballs.

James Goodwin allowed just one run in the ninth inning to finish of the victory for the Eagles, striking out one and forcing two ground outs.

The Eagles hit an outstanding .368 and .467 with runners in scoring position on Friday, so they hope for more of the same on offense in the doubleheader these two teams play Saturday in Costa Mesa.

The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Barth

#7 Jeremy Barth

OF
6' 4"
Senior
L/R
Jimmy Gallarda

#16 Jimmy Gallarda

RHP/1B
6' 3"
Senior
R/R
Jerron Largusa

#77 Jerron Largusa

OF
6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
Sam Thorne

#14 Sam Thorne

IF/RHP
5' 8"
Senior
R/R
Jonas Wellan

#33 Jonas Wellan

C/1B
6' 0"
Senior
L/R
James Goodwin

#44 James Goodwin

RHP
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Barth

#7 Jeremy Barth

6' 4"
Senior
L/R
OF
Jimmy Gallarda

#16 Jimmy Gallarda

6' 3"
Senior
R/R
RHP/1B
Jerron Largusa

#77 Jerron Largusa

6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
Sam Thorne

#14 Sam Thorne

5' 8"
Senior
R/R
IF/RHP
Jonas Wellan

#33 Jonas Wellan

6' 0"
Senior
L/R
C/1B
James Goodwin

#44 James Goodwin

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Skip Ad

Sponsors