VILLALOBOS AND DILLMAN CARRY AVILA TO WIN OVER EVANGEL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two six-run innings, three home runs and a seven-inning complete game from Antonio Villalobos carried Avila baseball to a 15-2 win over Evangel on Friday afternoon at The Z.

Evangel scored on a wild pitch on the third batter of the game, but that was essentially all the offense the Valor would muster on the afternoon as the Eagles answered right back in the bottom of the first.

Gio Armas started Avila's day at the plate with a single and Zach Dillman put Avila ahead the very next batter with a two-run shot to left center.

Two batters up, two runs scored.

Avila put the game away for good in the second inning.

The first three batters of the inning reached base and Dillman drew a bases-loaded walk for Avila's third run.

A Landon Vahle two-RBI single followed by a Jack Virden two-RBI double gave Avila five runs in the inning. Thomas English knocked in the Eagles sixth run of the inning two batters later with a single to left field.

Through two, Avila held an 8-1 lead.

In the fourth, Jack Virden joined Dillman with a home run of his own over the left centerfield wall.

9-1 Avila.

Evangel hit a home run of their own in the sixth, but Avila answer back with another six-run inning.

Leading off the sixth, Dillman bashed his second homer of the day to get the Eagles to double-figures on the scoreboard.

After Vahle walked, Ricky Dober sent him home with an RBI double. Will Clark would go on to score Dober two batters later with a double of his own.

English was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Erick Ubri would send him home after reaching first on an error the next batter up.

Following Ubri reaching base, Robby Cable and Armas hit back-to-back RBI singles to give Avila its 14^th and 15^th runs of the game.

Continuing his quiet dominance on the mound, Villalobos set the Valor down in the seventh to finish the game off. The redshirt junior from Tracy, Calif., pitched seven strong innings allowing just six hits and two earned runs while notching six Evangel strikeouts to snap Avila's four-game losing streak.

In addition to Villalobos, the Eagles had quite a few notable individual performances on the afternoon.

Avila had five players (Armas, Dillman, Virden, English and Cable) with multiple hits. Dillman (four), Vahle (two) and Virden (three) were the three Eagles with multiple RBI. 

The Eagles and Valor will play a doubleheader on Saturday at The Z with first pitch at noon.

 (photo credit: Albert Guerrero)