IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team split Friday's doubleheader against Biola University, maintaining their .500 win percentage to become 11-11 on the season. Pitching dominated the day, with Biola's Larson Kindreich striking out 15 in Game 1 and CUI's
Dillon Brown throwing a complete game shutout in Game 2.
In Game 1, CUI's bats struggled to get going against Biola's starter as the Eagles were only able to collect three hits off the bats of
Haloa Dudoit,
Jeff Pellegrino, and
Cooper Moore. The Green & Gold scored their lone run in the bottom of the seventh, when senior
Bailey Collins drove in Pellegrino on an RBI groundout.
Senior starter
Brett Vansant struck out 3 batters in 6 innings, while surrendering 8 hits and 4 earned runs. Biola would score 4 more runs off the Eagles' bullpen, ultimately winning by a score of 8-1.
In Game 2, Cal State Fullerton transfer
Dillon Brown threw an absolute gem in his first career start for CUI. During his 7-inning shutout, he struck out 9 batters while only allowing 4 runners to reach base via a hit or walk.
On the offensive side,
Philip Quartararo helped the Eagles get an early lead in the first inning with a single to left field, scoring
Matt Lautz. The next batter, Collins, singled to right field to score
Jair Donovan. The very next pitch,
Nathan Benefeito grounded out to shortstop, scoring Quartararo and giving CUI a quick 3-0 lead. The Eagles would strike again in the third, when Lautz would score off the bat of Quartararo and cementing the final 4-0 score.
Battle of the Eagles continues Saturday with a doubleheader at Biola; which will be the final two games of PacWest Southern Pod play.
CLICK HERE for the full 2021 CUI baseball schedule.
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