LA MIRADA, Calif. -- The final home-and-home series for VU baseball this season went to the Biola Eagles today, as BU won 7-3 and 8-0. The wins put Biola at an even 23-23 overall and 19-19 in Pacific West Conference games, while VU dropped to 12-32, 9-29.
What Happened? Nathan Hellein got the VU offense moving in the top of the third, as he blasted a home run on the first pitch of the frame to left-center field. However, the Eagles got to
Shamir Marshall in the bottom half, as the hosts got a single with two aboard and a walk with the bases loaded to jump ahead 2-1.
But the long ball flipped the scoreboard again in the top of the fifth, as after
Bennett Vondrak led off with a single,
James Derflinger mailed his 1-0 pitch over the fence in center field to put the Blue and Gold ahead 3-2. Yet in the bottom portion, the Eagles extracted their own two-run bomb to regain the lead at 4-2. From there, BU scored three runs in the sixth to extend the advantage, and the Eagles held that line for a 7-3 victory.
Each team had seven hits, while VU had two errors and Biola had one. Marshall (5.2 IP) dropped to 1-3 and fanned four, the third game in a row he has achieved that.
Dylan Scott and
Khoi Anderson covered the rest of the game for VU, with Anderson fanning one BU hitter.
Joshua Sur had a 2-for-3 day to pace the lineup. Hellein had his first VU home run today, and Derflinger hit his fifth of the season.
Game 2
Tyler Prystajko got in a hole quickly, as after two errors, another Biola home run blasted the hosts to a 3-0 edge, with two more mistakes eventually making it 5-0 after one interval. Unfortunately, the Lions only got one hit from Vondrak and one from
Angel Perez, but otherwise could not solve Gabe Magallan, who went the distance for Biola. Prystajko went five and was charged for only one of the five runs he allowed while gathering two Ks.
Nathaniel Garcia and
Caleb Lambertson went the final two frames, with Garcia giving up the other three BU runs.
What's Next? The Lions play BU at home tomorrow for senior day, with a noon DH followed by the senior ceremony.
