LA MIRADA, Calif. ---

Coming into a week with April Fool's pranks, one of the things the Biola baseball program can know with a high level of certainty is the Eagles' production at the plate is no joke. Biola's hitters continued to score at a high rate against a ranked pitching staff last weekend, scoring 47 runs against the Cougars to raise APU's team ERA by almost a full run. The Eagles averaged over 11 runs per game over their last two series and scored 13 runs or more five times in a six-game stretch. The long ball has been one of Biola's biggest keys to that success; the Eagles have hit at least one homerun in 10-straight contests to record the longest streak of games with a homerun since the 2006 Biola Eagles concluded the season with homeruns in 11 straight-games. But the sheer volume of hits has also been pivotal. Biola has won every game over the past two weeks in which it has recorded at least two doubles and the Eagles have amassed 83 total hits en route to 79 runs in that span of time.

Biola will start the Fresno Pacific series with six batters who are hitting at least .293 through 28 games and eight men who has at least 14 RBI's, marking them as the consensus third-most prolific offense in the conference. The Eagles rank third in the PacWest in runs scored, RBI's and extra-base hits behind Hawaii Pacific and Azusa Pacific.

Head Coach Justin Duarte's pitching staff also gets the benefit of returning home this week, where the Eagles are 8-2 this season. The pitching staff records an average of just under 10 strikeouts per game at home and hopes to ride the good performance for its starters in each of their most recent appearances at Eagles Diamond. Chief among the arms Biola should be able to lean on is left-handed senior Troy Stainbrook, who has recorded 20 strikeouts in 12 innings of work over his last two starts while allowing just two earned runs. Stainbrook was phenomenal in his last appearance at Eagles Diamond, striking out nine while allowing just one hit in an abbreviated start of four innings. And he's 1-0 in his career against Fresno Pacific after pitching five innings im a 23-5 win for Biola in Fresno last year.  

LAST WEEK: 23-14 L, 3-4 L/11, 17-15 W, 4-7 L at No. 13 Azusa Pacific (1-3 Weekly Record, 16-12 Overall Record)

THIS WEEK: vs FRESNO PACIFIC: Friday at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. & Saturday at 12 p.m. and 3 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 (16-12, 7-9 PacWest) at Fresno Pacific (9-16, 5-7 PacWest): Friday, April 5 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.; Saturday, April 6 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. \\  Live Stats \\ Live Video

Fresno Pacific had a strong start to its PacWest schedule by winning three of four in Honolulu against Hawaii Pacific but has since dropped off with a 4-8 record in their last 12 games against opponents with a PacWest conference affiliation. The Sunbirds lost three of four in Hilo, where Biola went 3-1 to begin PacWest play, and are coming off a series split with Concordia at home. Oddly enough, five of FPU's nine wins this season have come on the road despite playing 14 games at home. Unlike the Eagles, the Sunbirds need to play more small ball to score their runs. They only have nine homeruns in 25 games but shave scored seven or more runs in seven of their nine wins.

Two of Fresno Pacific's starters have sub-3.00 ERA's but the whole staff tends to pitch to contact and is vulnerable to giving up large numbers of hits.