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The Official Athletic Site of the Biola University Eagles

Scoreboard

Senior players from Biola Baseball
9
Winner Campbellsville CAMP 43-19
7
Biola University BU-BASE 34-22
Winner
Campbellsville CAMP
43-19
9
Final
7
Biola University BU-BASE
34-22
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Campbellsville CAMP 0 0 4 2 0 3 0 0 0 9 11 3
Biola University BU-BASE 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 7 13 1

W: Deason (7-4) L: Beyer, Micah (6-4) S: Phillips (3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Brandon Taylor, Assistant Sports Information Director

Eagles Fight To the End

Biola’s impressive comeback attempt after a rain delay fell just short in a 9-7 loss in the NCCAA World Series Semifinal.

EASLEY, S.C --- Biola's fantastic ride in NCCAA postseason play came to its final stop on Saturday when when the Eagles lost in the NCCAA World Series semifinals to the Campbellsville Tigers. But the Eagles' last game wasn't without its share of excitement and fitting moments.

The Eagles had won five-straight NCCAA postseason games, spanning back to the West Regional Championship on May 12, and swept through pool play with an extra-innings win over Southwestern Christian University. But the first half of the two-part game belonged entirely to Campellsville and the Tigers would do just enough to hold off Biola for a 9-7 win.

"The guys kinda lossed yesterday but they won [the game we played] today," said Head Coach Jay Sullenger. "Put two together and it doesn't equal what they would consider a "W," but it was. Guys showed a lot today, coming out and not laying down. And finding ways to get zeroes and put runs on the board. We fought to the last out and that's clearly a byproduct of what God has done in this team this season."

Senior started Micah Beyer took a good first step for Biola. Beyer started his outing with four groundouts over his first two innings to keep the Tigers scoreless. He neutralized the first Campbellsville extra-base hits by stranding Tyler Deason at second base after he led off the second with a double.

But the Tigers would come back in the next inning with three more doubles against Beyer to take the early 4-0 lead after the rain started to affect play. Then Campbellsville would mix in two two-run singles over the course of the next three innings as it raised its lead to 9-0.

For a while it seemed that Biola had found a man to stifle the Tigers in sophomore Josh Ludeman. Ludeman entered the game in the fourth inning as Biola's third reliever and retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out five. But CU followed a one-out walk in the sixth with three-straight hits to force Ludeman out of the game.

Senior Daniel Jang got the call to replace Ludeman and fired two quick strikes. But then the skies opened and the teams were forced to return to the field Saturday morning.

The delay was a welcomed break for the Biola hitters who managed just two hits against starter Tyler Deason. Deason threw 90 pitches in five innings of work and was prevented by the rain from trying to go deeper into the ball game. So Campbellsville started Saturday by giving the ball to DJ Wilson, who had thrown five innings on Friday, found the team in the other dugout would not go as quietly as it had on Friday.

Biola scored four runs out the gate in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run homerun by Jacob Portaro and back-to-back singles from Connor Kostecka and Ricky Perez.

The Tigers would not be able to extend the game beyond its 9-4 score because of the excellent final outing from senior Daniel Jang. Jang closed out one of the best seasons by a reliever in program history with the longest outing of his season, 3.1 innings pitched and only one hit allowed. The righty lowered his season ERA to 0.33 in the process and did not allow a run over his final 22.1 innings of work this season.

Jang's outing was the first of a few heart-warming endings for Biola's seniors in the semifinal. Senior Jacob Battglia relieved Jang and got the final out of the ninth inning on three pitches, then River Fawley led off the Eagles' last at-bat by hitting a homerun in his final collegiate appearance.

Colton Worthington and Jacob Winn both got hits in their last trips to the plate while Ricky Perez saw a run score on the last time he made contact. Fittingly enough, it was the captain Worthington who scored the seventh run of the game and the last of Biola's season, giving him a team-high 55 runs scored in 2018.

Campbellsville stranded the potential game-tying run at second base when it got the final out of the game. But the fight the Eagles showed to comeback from a nine-run deficit is a true representation of the 2018 team's character and the legacy it will leave on this program as the first team to play in NCAA Division II competition.

"This week was a great week and today was a culmination of that," said Sullenger. "It's clear that this program is in a different place from where it was when our seniors got here. A lot of prayer has brought this group together and we're thankful for what God has done and what He will do."

Biola finishes the year with an impressive record of 34-22 and kept its season alive longer than any other PacWest team. To all the seniors and their families, thank you for all that you have given to Biola Baseball.
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