Box Score REDWOOD CITY, Calif. --- The Biola Baseball team is making an unexpected and unfortunate early exit from the 2017 Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament following a Monday morning 12-3 loss to The Master's University.
 
The Eagles came into the tournament with high hopes as they dominated conference play for much of the season, winning eight conference series in a row, and came into this tournament as the No. 2 seed and No. 24 team in all of the NAIA.
 
Needing a win in the first elimination game of the tournament Head Coach Jay Sullenger turned to Wyatt Haccou to start the game. Haccou, the Eagles' No. 3 starter, earned eight wins and was extremely dependable for the Eagles during the regular season.
 
He chose Haccou for the start over the No. 2 man Micah Beyer. Beyer seemed to be a good matchup for this game as he pitched 7.1 innings against TMU in the regular season and held the Mustangs to just two runs. However, Beyer lost his last conference start and Haccou had allowed fewer than three runs in each of his last three outings making him the proverbial "hot hand."
 
The strategy didn't work out as well as the Eagles would have liked as Haccou lasted just two innings and allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and ultimately ended up as the losing pitcher in the ballgame.
 
The Eagles got their first lead of the tournament in the top half of the first inning when a Sam Thorne sacrifice fly pushed Colton Worthington across the dish to make it 1-0 in the early going.
 
That lead would last for a few minutes before TMU's Michael Sexton hit his 13^th homerun of the season in the bottom half of the inning to start the scoring for the Mustangs. His two-run shot gave them the lead for good. They would add five in the second, two in the fifth and sixth and one more in the seventh to cruise to a win and keep themselves alive in this conference tournament.
 
The Eagles allowed 15 runs to the Mustangs and could only scratch out eight of their own in a frustrating game at the plate. Biola had to face TMU's starter for much of the day as Robert Winslow threw nearly 150 pitches and went 7.1 innings for the Mustangs in a workhorse outing that was much needed in this tournament setting.
 
Worthington seemed like the only Eagle that could get his timing just right against the big man from The Master's. He ended the day with five hits in five at-bats out of the No. 2 spot for the Eagles. He hit a homerun and a double to drive in two runs and score two runs for BU. His pre-tournament batting average of .303 was raised all the way to .327 despite the team's two losses.
 
The results of this game drops the Eagles to 35-18 on the season while TMU improved to 31-21 and continues tournament play with an elimination game against Menlo later on Monday afternoon.
 
Biola will now turn its attention to the NAIA Baseball Tournament. The Eagles will remain as the No. 24 team in the country and hope for an at-large berth to the tournament when seeds and schedules are released later this week.
 
Forty-five teams make the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. In 2016 there were 14 teams that received at-large bids, with three teams ranked lower than Biola's current No. 24 ranking making the field via at-large selection.
 
The selection show that will reveal the Eagles' fate takes place at 1:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 11, 2017. The show will be hosted by the NAIA. Look for more information on where to watch later on this week.