BOX GAME ONE |
BOX GAME TWO
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --
Edgar Molina and
Scott Stidham each clubbed two home runs to lead Point Loma Nazarene to a sweep of Wesmont at Russ Carr Field Saturday. Molina smacked two round trippers and drove in seven as the Sea Lions took the opening game 12-7. Stidham hit his two homers in PLNU's 5-4 comeback win in the nightcap.
The two victories lift Point Loma's overall record to 23-16. The Sea Lions are now 18-13 in GSAC play and are 18-13 against GSAC teams, good for fourth in the conference standings. More importantly, the team's streak of 13 wins in 16 contests has assured it a spot in the GSAC Postseason Tournament.
The Sea Lions scored four runs in the first, four runs in the second, and four runs in the third to give themselves an uncatchable head start against Westmont in the first game of Saturday's double header. Allen Boyer got things going with a lead off homer; three batters later Molina did the same but, unlike Boyer's solo shot, brought in two base runners along with him.
With Kenny Houser on the mound, the Warriors were unable to score for the first three innings while Point Loma's hitting spree ran rampant. In the bottom of the fourth, a hit batter, walk, single, single, and another walk brought in two runs for Westmont, but the Sea Lions' 12 runs wouldn't be disappearing anytime soon.
The Warriors scored another run in the bottom of the sixth when Kellan Stewart took the hill in Houser's place, however the run was not on account of the freshman right-hander. Second baseman Brandon Allen reached base on an error, leaving a scoring opportunity in place. Westmont took advantage of it and sent a runner home. The score was still, however, 12-3 with the Sea Lions on top.
An inning later the Warriors fought back a little bit harder, scoring four runs, and putting themselves within five runs of the Sea Lions. Maurice Wilhelm came in to relieve Stewart, who had gotten himself into some trouble. Wilhelm got out of the inning relatively unscathed in the grand scheme of things, as Point Loma still had a five-run advantage.
Neither team scored again for the remaining two innings and the Sea Lions won 12-7. Houser earned the win, improving his record to 4-2. Molina was 4-for-5 with two homeruns and raked in seven RBI.
Westmont's Ryan Sullivan was hung with the loss after only pitching an inning and two-thirds. His record evens to 2-2.
The second game of the day was not such a blowout. While there were some big hitters, it was much closer, the Sea Lions inching the Warriors out 5-4.
Kelson Boyer started on the mound, and it looked like Westmont was about to pay the Sea Lions the same treatment they received in the first game. The Warriors scored four runs during their first at bats. A grand slam from pitcher and designated hitter Timothy Leary put Westmont way ahead fast. Boyer was left in the game for another inning and settled down, not letting up another run. However, lefty Josh Dexheimer still entered in the third.
Point Loma struck back with a run in the second, capitalizing on Westmont's errors. By the third, the Sea Lions tied it up thanks to a Stidham two-run jack and a Rashad Taylor RBI single.
In the fifth inning, score tied 4-4, Stidham did it again and homered to right field for the go-ahead run. Chris Gonzalez came in to throw a shutout seventh inning and the Sea Lions swept the Warriors four games to zero.
Dexheimer earned the win after throwing four shutout innings. The lefthander improves his record to 2-1. Gonzalez recorded his third save of the year while Westmont's Leary lost for the fifth time this year, dropping his record to 2-5.
The Sea Lions are now 23-16 overall and 18-13 in GSAC. Westmont drops to 15-26 overall and 7-22 in GSAC.
Point Loma will travel to Biola University on Monday for a conference game at 3 pm. That contest is the final make up game of rain outs early in the season. The Sea Lions will then host three non-conference tilts before Easter break: San Diego Christian Tuesday and Wednesday and Chapman on Thursday. All contests begin at 3:00 pm.
