Box Score 1
Box Score 2
Derek Benny tossed a complete game shutout and
Scott Laird drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth for the game's only run in a 1-0 walkoff win over Biola in game one of Thursday's doubleheader before the Eagles came back to take the second game 6-2.
Benny (4-3) became the first FPU pitcher to throw a shutout this season, scattering five hits against a very strong Biola lineup that entered the game with a .294 team batting average. Eagles ace Chris Baek was matching Benny inning by inning, though the Sunbirds had left far too many runners on base.
Things changed in the bottom of the ninth as
Alec Mehrten opened up the inning with a hard-hit single to left. After a sacrifice bunt, the Eagles opted to intentionally walk
Robbie De La Cruz. Baek then got
Kevin Magill to strike out, but the ball got away from the catcher advancing the runners to second and third.
The Eagles then intentionally walked
Steven Lozier to load the bases, wanting to set up the righty-righty matchup with
Scott Laird, one of the team's most patient and experienced hitters. In an anticlimactic ending, Laird watched four pitches go by that were well out of the zone, drawing the walk and giving the Sunbirds the 1-0 win.
Mehrten, Lozier and
Michael Rivera each finished with two hits in the win.
The second game looked like another pitcher's duel until the sixth inning when the Eagles batted around, knocking out FPU starter
Josh Medeles and scoring five runs to take a 6-0 lead. Medeles was charged with two runs in five innings of work but the Sunbird bullpen would give up four more before
Greg Kilgore worked the team out of the jam to end the sixth.
The damage had been done though and a six-run lead proved to be too much to overcome, though De La Cruz's two-run single in the bottom half of the inning gave the Sunbirds their only runs of the game.
Biola's Drake Fages led the way for the Eagles, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Mike Lopez also finished with two hits and two RBI. Jeff Grijalva earned the win for BU, finishing with a similar line as Medeles with five innings and two runs given up. FPU managed just three hits in the game.
The Sunbirds travel to La Mirada on Monday for a doubleheader to complete the four-game series with the Eagles. The team will look to improve upon its road record this season, which currently stands at a lowly 2-13.
