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Baseball Loses Wild One to
Biola |
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In what seemed like the never-ending baseball game, Biola soundly defated CSUSM by a score of 23-12 on Monday. The teams combined for 35 runs, 33 hits, and 9 errors in the near-4 hour contest. The Cougars jumped out to an early lead in the first, taking advantage of an error and a pair of walks to score 4 runs. Austin Way and Adam Ricciardulli both drove in runs with doubles in the frame. Biola responded quickly. Cougar starter Jeff Stephenson got through the first unscathed, but he was leaving nearly everything up in the zone, and it was clear that he wouldn't last long against Biola's loaded lineup. He was greeted with four straight singles in the second, and a sac fly and an error cut the lead to 4-3 before Stephenson was able to escape. After a Spencer Pardon opposite-field home run and Way RBI double pushed the lead back to 6-3, Biola took its first lead in the bottom of the third. A leadoff Matt Smith home run kicked off what would be a four-run inning in which three Cougar pitchers took the mound. The pitching carousel was just getting started for CSUSM, it turned out. On the day, 10 different pitchers took the mound for the Cougars - and ironically, the only one not to allow a run was first baseman Matt Jenkins. The lefty, who was obviously pitching for the first time this season, retired the side in order in the 8th. Despite the pitching woes, CSUSM didn't go down without an early fight. After Biola scored 5 more in the 4th, giving them a 12-6 lead, CSUSM came back to tie in the bottom of the inning. Tristan Gale, Scott Shapiro, and Way each singled to lead off the inning, and a throwing error on Way's base hit allowed the first two to score. Terry Moritz then sliced a controversial single to center, and the Biola coach was ejected for arguing that his fielder came up with the catch. Yet another controversial call allowed Adam Ricciardulli to reach base, and a Ricardo Moran sac fly, Matt Castro base hit, and Spencer Pardon groundout tied the game up at 12. But from that point on, it would be all Biola. The Cougar pitching staff ran into more trouble in the fifth, as four more runs crossed the plate before McClinton Heil, the second pitcher of the inning, was able to escape. Heil pitched a 1-2-3 sixth before bowing out the following inning after Nick Dietzen and Danny Morrow hit back-to-back home runs. Biola got two more in the 9th off outfielder Jason Kutzler, making the final score 23-12. Biola's late relief was effective, as Steven Alexander and Justin Rodriguez combined to throw three scoreless innings to close out the game. The loss drops CSUSM to 10-17 on the year. They'll be on the field at UCSD tomorrow, at Vanguard on Wednesday, and at Masters on Thursday. |