LA MIRADA --- The Biola boys took care of business on Sunday, defeating the Urban Knights (10-16, 3-9 PacWest) for the fourth-straight time. The Eagles (12-17, 6-6 PacWest) protected their home field and scrapped together 11 runs in the game two victory.
Sunday's sweep was clinched with a 11-8 final score in Biola's favor. The series sweep was the first for the Eagles so far this season, who surged up the conference standings into a tie for fourth place.
"It is hard to sweep and we found a way to get it done," said head coach
Jesse Rodgers.
Game two was a messy affair with 19 combined runs through just seven innings. Both teams used every opportunity to plate more runners with just three zeroes on the scoreboard.
After scoring in the first inning without a base hit, the BU lineup found its groove in the third. Back-to-back walks set up the strong inning but four-straight singles finished it off. Four runs came through in the frame with RBIs from
AJ Ortiz,
Wyatt Duncan,
Noah Ruiz, and
Sam Lisiak.
Ruiz's single in the third kept up the hitting streak for the freshman. Ruiz went 1-3 in game two and extended his streak to nine games. Oscar Serratos also extended his hitting streak on Sunday to seven games.
The big third frame gave Biola a mere one-run lead but the host squad would be quick to expand that.
The bats kept swinging in the fourth, as
Evan Rowe and
James Whitman teamed up for a run at the start. With two outs, Rowe looked to be stuck at third base but Ortiz delivered. The BU third baseman hit a no-doubter over the left field fence, scoring a pair for Biola and giving the team a 8-4 lead.
Doubles helped BU continue to pressure ART U. Biola piled on three more runs between the fifth and sixth frames to seemingly stay out of range of the Urbans Knights.
The visitors tried their hand at a comeback with two runs in each of the final two innings. ART U put together strong rallies but ultimately left four runners on base in those last two frames to fall 11-8.
Carson Cody provided crucial work for Biola in the middle innings. The senior was unstoppable with five strikeouts through 2.1 innings pitched. Cody logged his first win of the season and refused to allow a run.
Biola will be back at Eagles Diamond on Tuesday, April 4, facing Westmont at 3:00 pm.
