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Connor Kostecka surrounded by teammates
Kyla McGuire
8
Hawai'i Hilo UHH-BB 25-19
9
Winner Biola University BU-BASE 28-18
Hawai'i Hilo UHH-BB
25-19
8
Final
9
Biola University BU-BASE
28-18
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Hawai'i Hilo UHH-BB 0 0 3 0 0 1 2 2 0 8 10 0
Biola University BU-BASE 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 9 15 1

W: Kindreich, Honus (2-0) L: Kea, John (1-3)

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

More Cowbell Comes Through

Connor Kostecka wins the game with a two-run walkoff double as cowbells still made their presence heard at Eagles Diamond.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Even with the Hawaii Hilo shaking their free cowbells with every pitch and the Vulcans taking a late lead, the Biola Eagles still pulled out a home victory on Thursday thanks to Connor Kostecka's second walk-off hit of the season.

Coming to the plate to face closer John Kea down one run with two outs, Kostecka stayed alive in his at-bat by fouling off two pitches with a 1-2 count and then tagged a slider over the middle of the plate into the gap in left center to score Tyler Baca and Joey Magro for the 9-8 comeback.

The win officially gives Biola a winning streak with three-consecutive victories and brings the Eagles two wins shy of 30 on the year with a doubleheader to close out the regular season on Friday. Biola had posted four-straight 30 wins seasons coming into the 2019 year.

Kostecka's walkoff was the literal showstopper to a game that had a lot of fireworks, as the teams combined for five homeruns on the day. But it was the Eagles' ability to work quality at-bats in the first inning that opened a big lead for the home team against the Vulcans' ace.

Dylan Spain was coming off PacWest Pitcher of the Week honors and back-to-back complete games as he took the hill in the bottom of the first inning. That just didn't end up mattering too much to Magro and Kostecka, as both singled to start the offense for the Eagles. Two more singles from Jackson Collins and RobertAnthony Cruz pushed the Eagles out to the early 2-0 lead. Then senior catcher Anj Bourgeois really made the inning sting for Hawaii Hilo with a two-out, two-RBI single to make it 4-0.

After Collins' single on the 11th pitch of his at-bat and three other plate appearances of seven pitches or more from his teammates, Spain finally got out of the first inning after throwing 48 piches and down four runs. The Eagles fouled off 13 pitches in the first inning alone to get a lock on Spain and that proved crucial as RJ Bates and Jerron Largusa hit homeruns in the third and fourth inning, respectively, after they had gotten a good look at the righty.

Bates and Largusa's homeruns covered for the three runs scored against starter Kenny Carrillo in the third inning. But the Montebello, California-native was excellent outside of the blip on the radar in the third and definitely deserved to get the win had not Hilo scored more after he left the game.

Carrillo started the game with 2.1 hitless inning and got his first six outs on just 12 pitches. The two through seven hitters in the Hawaii Hilo order were 0-for-14 against him through the first five innings and he threw three pitches or fewer to 14 of the 25 batters he faced. He would finish with three strikeouts and three earned runs over six innings to get the no decision and record his fourth start of six innings or more in his last five appearances.

After the Vulcans took the late lead with two in the seventh and two in the eighth, reliever Honus Kindreich injected some passion back into his dugout in the ninth with two big strikeouts and a scoreless inning to keep it a one-run game. It took three batters for Biola to really harness that momentum since Kea, who came into the game with nine saves, started the ninth with two strikeouts. But a walk from Tyler Piston started the rally and set up Joey Magro to smash a ball that was too hot for the first baseman to handle.

Kostecka then matched Magro's hit total for the day with the clutch double to win the game and give him a total of 24 RBI's on the year. The sophomore shortstop now has a six-game hitting streak and is six points below a .300 batting average with two games to play Friday.

The doubleheader will start just after 12 noon with Biola Senior Day Ceremony scheduled for 11:35 a.m. Free chicken sandwiches, courtesy of Chick-Fil-A at the La Habra Marketplace will also be available at 12 noon.
 
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