Toros Baseball Falls to Biola, 10-5
Daniel Pilimai slugs third home run of season as junior goes 3-for-4 in loss
February 23, 2004

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Daniel Pilimai (Sacramento, CA/Rockland HS) hammered his third home run of the season, a three-run blast deep over the leftfield fence, but the visiting Biola Eagles scored eight runs in innings four through six to take a 10-5 nonconference decision over the Toros on Monday afternoon on Toro Field. CSUDH falls to 5-11, while Biola improves to 8-2-1.

Toros starter Gus Hernandez (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood HS) and Eagles starter Justin Angevine started strong the for their respective teams, throwing shutout baseball over the first three innings. The scoring began in the top of the fourth frame as the Eagles connected off CSUDH reliever Ernesto Paiz (Redondo Beach, CA/Cañada JC), touching him for four runs and three hits in the inning in staking Biola to a 4-0 lead.

The Toros would respond in their half of the fourth, using two singles, a walk, a hit batsman and a fielder's choice to score two runs to cut the lead to 4-2. CSUDH missed a golden opportunity to narrow the deficit even further as Biola reliever Mike Casserly wiggled out of a bases-loaded no-out jam, allowing only one run to score on the fielder's choice.

The Eagles would use that momentum in their next two at-bats, scoring two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings to break the game open, giving Biola a commanding 8-2 lead. Behind Pilimai's hot bat, however, CSUDH fought back as it scored three times in the seventh frame to narrow the lead to 8-5, courtesy of a Zac Cort (El Cerrito, CA/El Cerrito HS) single, a Freddy Medina (Santa Ana, CA/Century HS) walk and Pilimai's bomb.

CSUDH would get no closer, however, as Biola's last two pitchers combined for one Toro hit over the final two innings, while its batters added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings, securing the Eagles 10-5 victory.

Paiz threw two innings, allowing six runs and five hits to drop his first decision of the season (0-1), while Biola's Casserly hurled two innings of one-hit ball to garner the win (2-0).

Cort tallied two hits on the afternoon for the Toros while the Eagles' Andy Kroeker led Biola with a 3-for-5 performance, bolstered by Reid Hamblet's 2-for-3 showing, including a 2RBI home run in the fifth inning.

BU's Sam Orr also connected for a homerun, knocking a sixth-inning pitch over the right field fence, driving in two Eagles.

The Toros host CCAA-foe Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, February 26, and Friday, February 27, for the first two games of the four-game set, with the last two contests set for a Saturday doubleheader in San Bernardino. First pitch for both games at Toro Field is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.