LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Baseball continues to ease into the 2019 season with four games this week against former GSAC peers in Vanguard and San Diego Christian. Understandably, priority number one will be getting their first win out of the way. But it will be just as important for the Eagles to establish their road game and weekend series routine since these non-conference game will have no bearing on Biola's playoff chances once the regular season comes to an end. That eligibility is almost exclusively dependent on the Eagles finishing in the top-three of the PacWest standings.

What will be worth watching for this week is seeing Biola's bats start to heat up and seeing how the pitching staff begins to fall into designated roles. The Eagles only came up with one hit in their season opening loss to Hope International and only brought one true reliever out of the bullpen in Josh Ludeman. So it's basically certain that the results of Biola's play will change as Head Coach Justin Duarte gradually starts to manage games with more of a motivation to make the lineup moves that impact the Eagles chances to win close games.

LAST WEEK: 0-11 L vs Hope International; (0-1 Weekly Record, 0-1 Overall Record)

THIS WEEK: at VANGUARD, Tuesday at 2 p.m.; vs SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN, Friday at 2 p.m. & Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be provided free of charge for all Biola home contests. See links and cost for road contests in the previews below.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. See ticketing information for road contests below each preview below.

BIOLA (0-1) at VANGUARD (7-0): Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
The Lions have started their season on a seven-game win streak headed into this week and will have a game in Lancaster, California on Monday against NAIA No. 7 Antelope Valley before hosting the Eagles on Tuesday. Monday's game against the Pioneers will be the best indication of how the good the Lions are to start the season, as their other opponents had a combined record of 5-16-1 after losing to Vanguard. All those wins have resulted in some gaudy statistics for Biola's former conference peer, as Lions pitchers have a 1.03 ERA coming into the week while the hitters are hitting .389 with 31 extra-base hits. First baseman Joe Johnson already has five homeruns and 15 RBI's on the year, with four of those round-trippers coming in a 20-3 win over Providence Christian on January 26. Vanguard was picked to finish third in the GSAC preseason poll after going 22-14 in conference play a year ago. The Lions lost their only matchup to Biola in 2018 by a score of 15-6, with Ryan Gallegos and Jerron Largusa combining for seven hits (three for extra bases) and five RBI's in the contest.

TICKET INFORMATION: http://www.vanguardlions.com/Coming_to_an_Event

BIOLA (0-1) vs SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN (5-0) : Friday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
The Hawks have been both hot and cold over the 10 games they've played to start the season. San Diego Christian will come to Eagles Diamond with a record of 5-3 and two exhibitions against NCAA DII West Region opponents in UC San Diego and Point Loma. The Hawks created a big buzz in NAIA circles by defeating UCSD 7-4 on January 22 after jumping out to a six-run lead over the 2018 NCAA DII West Region Champion. But once the start of NCAA season got closer, SDCC suffered a big 21-2 loss at the hands of the Sea Lions on January 29 and has gone 2-2 since. Hawks pitchers have allowed at least five runs in every game since they faced UCSD and have needed bailing out from their offense. San Diego Christian has average over 10 runs per game in its five wins this season and has scored at least three runs in the first three innings of four of its five victories. The Hawks were picked to finish ninth out of nine teams in the GSAC preseason poll.