Freshman Josh Staumont combined with four relievers to throw the Biola baseball team's first no-hitter since 1970 as the Eagles defeated The Master's College 6-0 in a GSAC game in Santa Clarita on Jan. 28.

Staumont got the start and combined with Garrett Picha, Erick Allen, Javier Martinez and Will Emerson to record the no-hitter. It is the first for the Eagles since Paul Romero threw a no-hitter against California Baptist on May 9, 1970, and the fourth in program history.

Staumont pitched well through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth, walking two batters after a lead-off fly out. Picha — making his first appearance of the season — came on in relief, but walked a batter before giving way to Allen. Allen worked out of the jam by getting a pair of pop outs to end the inning.

After retiring The Master's in order in the seventh, Allen got the first two outs via groundout in the eighth. But after a walk, Martinez came on to replace him. An error by the Eagles extended the inning, but Martinez was able to get a lazy fly to center to end the threat.

Martinez would strike out the leadoff batter in the ninth, then was replaced by Emerson, who got a first-pitch fly out to center, then struck out the final batter looking to end the game.

Despite not allowing a hit, Biola pitchers did issue seven walks including five from Staumont. One Mustang batter also reached on a fielding error. However, the Eagles managed to work out of the jams to preserve the no-no.

"Everything was clicking for us today," said Head Coach John Verhoeven. "We pitched well, the bullpen was clicking, our defense played well and we came up with clutch hits when we needed them. The win was blowing and it was freezing cold up here. It's a tough place to play and I was impressed with how well our guys responded after dropping the first game of the series."

Catcher Nick Oddo helped the Biola offense with three RBIs including hitting the first home run of the season for the Eagles. The blast came in the sixth inning and gave Biola a 2-0 lead after Sage Poland drove home the game's first run in the second with a two-out single.

Michael Annunziata added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI-ground out and the Eagles blew the game open with three runs in the ninth. Benji Sutherland drove home the first run with a two-out, bases-loaded single followed by a two-run single off the bat of Oddo to cap the scoring.

The game was originally scheduled to be played on Friday, Jan. 26, at Biola, but was moved to The Master's after rain muddied the field in La Mirada. The two teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, each winning a 2-0 decision. After losing the opening game, Biola held The Master's to just six hits and no runs over the final 18 innings of the series. The Eagles improve to 5-1 on the season and to 2-1 in GSAC play with the win while the Mustangs drop to 4-2, 1-2 in the conference.

Biola returns home to host Bethesda University in a non-conference game on Tuesday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m. before heading back into GSAC play with a three-game series at Westmont on Feb. 1 and 2.