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CWorthy

Baseball Brandon Taylor, Sports Information Assistant

Biola Rides That Believin’ Feelin’

Biola sits just one game out of first in GSAC standings.

Colton Worthington hit a big 3-run homerun on Saturday
Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It was hard to find a Biola player who was not grinning from ear to ear after Saturday's doubleheader against San Diego Christian. The caliber of play and grit was absolutely exceptional from both teams, but late breakthroughs at the plate in both games led to two wins for RV Biola and a 3-0 record on the weekend.

"San Diego Christian is a solid baseball team that competed in all three games and they made our guys work in what was a big weekend for us," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "It was fun to watch the guys play the way they did today and they truly played like a team that gave us all the performances we needed at the right times."

Biola improves to 27-13 (13-8 GSAC) with the series sweep and gained three games on No. 9 Menlo who started the weekend as the GSAC's first place team. The Eagles also moved into a tie for third by picking up 1.5 games on RV Vanguard and RV Hope International while the Hawks drop to 13-19 (8-16 GSAC).

Caleb Rodusky got the start for San Diego Christian in the first game Saturday and gave the Eagles fits during his first five innings of work. Biola only managed one hit through Rodusky's first 15 outs, but continued to dig into the righty's pitch count with every at-bat.

When the pitch count crept into the 90's for the Hawks' starter, the Eagles' slumbering offense woke up in a big way to turn a two-run deficit into a 7-2 lead. The first five batters in the inning tied the game for Biola before the Eagles their first out. Then Trey Holly singled home the go-ahead run with Rodusky still on the mound and set the table for big hits from Anj Bourgeois and Joey Magro.

Bourgeois knocked in Jeremy Barth and Phil Knapp on a single to make it 5-2 and was immediately plated by Joey Magro's double in the next at-bat. Magro got two hits and two RBI's in the inning to help Micah Beyer earn his fifth win of the season.

"Rodusky pitched really well up until the sixth, but I think we were able to hit a few mistakes and take the momentum from that inning into a win," said Magro, who had four hits in the second game of the series. "I felt that we were dangerous one through nine in the order today and saw Sam Thorne and Colton Worthington put huge swings on pitches in big situations, particularly in the last game."

The big inning validated Beyer's efforts to limit the Hawks to two runs in six innings of work. He got six strikeouts, five via the slider, and induced seven groundouts during his 97 pitches. Beyer also threw three scoreless after catcher Bobby Mead's two-run single in the third and finished the game by retiring the last five batters he saw.

Sean McCarrell worked two crucial innings in relief and handed the ball to closer Daniel Jang with a four-run lead. Making his third appearance of the week, Jang wrapped up a perfect ninth inning with 10 pitches to win the first game on Saturday 8-4.

The final game of the series swayed back-and-forth with a lot of drama. San Diego Christian took the lead twice, only to see Biola surge right back and eventually pull ahead for a 6-4 win.

The Hawks scored one on starter Buddy Brouwer in the bottom of the first with a triple from Justin Hawkins and a single from Vahn Bozoian.

But the Eagles rode the swift legs of Phil Knapp to respond in the next half inning. Following his leadoff single, Knapp hustled to third on successive groundouts from the next two hitters. Then Knapp set his sights on starter Ben Parker, whom he felt was being a bit too methodical to home plate with a runner just 90 feet from scoring.

With Parker coming home on a full windup, Knapp broke for home on a 1-1 pitch and scored Biola's first run as the catcher lost grip of the ball in the tag attempt.

That would not be enough to cause San Diego Christian to let the game slip from its grasp, though. Three runs across the third and fourth innings, highlighted by a two-run double from Brooks Fages, put the Hawks up three against Brouwer with nine outs left to get.

Brouwer kept the Eagles in the ball game with a gritty five innings and 74 pitches but was not involved in the decision.

Colton Worthington made sure Brouwer would not get tagged with the loss when he hit a massive three-run homerun in the fifth inning. A walk from Ricky Perez and a knock from Magro against Parker allowed Biola to tie the score at four with one mighty swing.

Sam Thorne gave the Eagles their first and only lead in the game with a double to right field in the seventh. After the hit sent Worthington home and made the score 5-4, Thorne scored on a throwing error and set up Wyatt Haccou for his second win of the week.

In a pressure-packed throwing session between starts, Haccou and his fastball danced through the heart of the San Diego Christian order for the final two innings of the game. He struck out two and stranded two baserunners in his 32 pitches to improve to 6-2 on the year.

After giving this weekend its due celebration, Biola will travel to Atherton for a midweek conference series with Menlo. First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Barth

#7 Jeremy Barth

OF
6' 4"
Senior
L/R
Micah Beyer

#28 Micah Beyer

RHP
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Anj Bourgeois

#8 Anj Bourgeois

IF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
Buddy Brouwer

#48 Buddy Brouwer

LHP
6' 0"
Senior
L/L
Daniel Jang

#17 Daniel Jang

RHP/IF
5' 7"
Junior
R/R
Joey Magro

#6 Joey Magro

3B
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Sean McCarrell

#2 Sean McCarrell

IF/RHP
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Sam Thorne

#14 Sam Thorne

IF/RHP
5' 8"
Senior
R/R
Colton Worthington

#24 Colton Worthington

OF/1B
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Phil Knapp

#3 Phil Knapp

OF
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Trey Holly

#55 Trey Holly

OF
5' 9"
Junior
L/L
Wyatt Haccou

#18 Wyatt Haccou

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Barth

#7 Jeremy Barth

6' 4"
Senior
L/R
OF
Micah Beyer

#28 Micah Beyer

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Anj Bourgeois

#8 Anj Bourgeois

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
IF
Buddy Brouwer

#48 Buddy Brouwer

6' 0"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Daniel Jang

#17 Daniel Jang

5' 7"
Junior
R/R
RHP/IF
Joey Magro

#6 Joey Magro

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
3B
Sean McCarrell

#2 Sean McCarrell

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
IF/RHP
Sam Thorne

#14 Sam Thorne

5' 8"
Senior
R/R
IF/RHP
Colton Worthington

#24 Colton Worthington

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
OF/1B
Phil Knapp

#3 Phil Knapp

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
OF
Trey Holly

#55 Trey Holly

5' 9"
Junior
L/L
OF
Wyatt Haccou

#18 Wyatt Haccou

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
RHP
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