Box Score
By Bradford Sargent
April 21, 2017Â
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Warriors (24-18, 10-13 GSAC) mounted a ninth-inning rally but fell to Biola University (31-14, 16-9 GSAC) by a final score of 7-3. The Warriors and Eagles face off again tomorrow in a doubleheader. Westmont was undone this afternoon by the long ball. Jonas Wellan was the first Eagle to go deep with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth inning. Wellan homered again in the bottom of the seventh to push Biola's lead to 4-1. Later that inning, Colton Worthington hit a three-run homer that extended Biola's advantage to six.
Despite the loss, Westmont can carry the momentum of a productive ninth inning into the next game. With one out in the ninth, Derek Rodigo hit a home run to cut the score to 7-2. Luke Coffey then launched a home run to nearly the same spot. The homer was Coffey's team-leading ninth of the season.Â
Warrior fans saw their team compete this afternoon. Starting pitcher Daniel Butler was perfect through two innings. He struck out six in what ended up going down as his seventh loss of the season. Freshman pitcher Bailey Reid started the 8th inning for Westmont and prevented Biola from scoring an eighth run. Shortstop Brody Weiss backpedaled sideways to make a tough catch in the eighth inning. It was an impressive display of footwork from the junior infielder.Â
The Warriors match up nicely with Biola. Biola has a slight hitting edge over Westmont – 29 to 26 – in the four head-to-head games played so far this season. In order to get back into the series, Westmont needs to be more productive with runners in scoring position. Westmont's batters stranded four runners in scoring position this afternoon.
