LA MIRADA, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team dropped the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Biola, with the second game being suspended in the eighth inning due to darkness. With Saturday's Game 1 loss, CUI falls to 11-12 on the season, however, remains 2^nd place in the PacWest Southern Pod.
 
Game 1 was an exciting game, with three lead changes occurring in the later stages.
 
In the top of the first, Bailey Collins collected his 24^th RBI of the season on a sac fly to right field, scoring Matt Lautz and giving CUI an early 1-0 lead.
 
Evan Larsen took the mound for the Green & Gold, striking out four batters in his first two innings of work. Larsen held Biola scoreless until the fifth inning, when Biola tied the game on a costly throwing error. The Costa Mesa native would finish the day with 6 strikeouts in 5.1 innings while surrendering two earned runs.
 
In the top of the sixth, Nathan Benefeito led off the inning with a walk. Shortly after, Derek Delgado singled through the left side to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch would then allow both runners to move up 90 feet. Freshman Xavier Gonzalez followed that with an RBI single to left field, scoring Benefeito and reclaiming a 2-1 lead. After the single, Chris Martin II came in to pinch run for Gonzalez. He would immediately be on the move as Haloa Dudoit put down a sac bunt to advance the runners. An error by the catcher would allow Delgado to score and Martin II to advance to third. Two pitches later, Lautz drove in Martin II on an RBI double down the left field line, extending the lead to 4-1.
 
The Eagle pitching staff ran into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth, allowing 5 runs to score on 5 hits between three different CUI pitchers. This gave Biola a 6-4 lead headed into the seventh.
 
In the top of the eighth with one out, Martin II singled to right field. The senior immediately advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a Dudoit single. Yet another wild pitch would allow both Martin II and Dudoit to advance, cutting the lead to 1 and putting Dudoit in scoring position. Lautz collected his second RBI of the day with a single to center field, tying the game at 6-6. A Biola pitching change would prove costly, as Jair Donovan hit an RBI double to right field scoring Lautz from first base and giving CUI yet another lead.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, with one out in the inning, Biola would land the final punch on a three run home run to give the Red & Black a 9-7 lead, which would become the final score.
 
Game 2 was suspended early due to darkness and will be made up at a later date. The time and date has yet to be determined.
 
The Eagles return to action on Thursday in San Francisco against Academy of Art for their first true road trip of the season.
 
CLICK HERE for the full 2021 CUI baseball schedule.

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