SAN DIEGO – Point Loma Nazarene suffered a doubleheader sweep Saturday at Carroll B. Land Stadium, losing to Arizona Christian 7-6 (10) and 11-4. The twinbill setback drops the Sea Lions to 7-6 overall while the Firestorm improves to 6-9.

The opener was a back-and-forth affair from the start. ACU outfielder Mike Greco hit a shot off the centerfield wall to begin the second inning. PLNU centerfielder Eddie Roberts came close to catching the ball but crashed into the fence before he could make the grab. By the time rightfielder Trey Hunt got the ball in, Greco had easily reached third.

PLNU starting pitfcher Jack Archie fanned the next two Firestorm batters before issuing a walk to put runners on the corners. Archie got out of the frame without any damage though, when Greco was cut down at the plate on an attempted double steal.

The Sea Lions drew first blood in the bottom of the inning without getting the ball out of the infield. DH Tyler Nordgren reached on an error, stole second and moved to third on a grounder by leftfielder Brian Burkhead. Rightfielder Trey Hunt scored Nordgren with a single to shortstop.

Hunt then swiped second and got to third on a wild pitch. Another groundout, this one by Andy Littlefield, scored Hunt for the team's second run.

Arizona Christian evened the game in the fourth thanks to a two-run single from Tyler Osborne.

The Firestorm took the lead in the sixth. Kendall Konopka singled and raced to third on a hit-and-run single by Alex Glenn. Osborne followed with a RBI single to put the Firestorm up 4-2.

Garrett Levsen took over for Archie but allowed a hit and a walk to load the bases before giving way to Sam Sadler. The right-hander picked up two huge outs without yielding another run when he induced a pop up and struck out a batter.

PLNU responded with four runs in the seventh. Burkhead walked and Hunt singled. First baseman Andy Littlefield attempted a couple of sacrifice bunts but was unable to convert. Instead, he did even better, slashing a double down the third baseline to score Burkhead.

Lucas DiCiccio, who entered the game as a replacement for Roberts, lined a single to left center that plated Hunt for the tying run. That hit chased ACU starter Chris Freudenberg from the game. Reliever Jack Sherman came in and hit Heisner with his first offering and then allowed a RBI grounder from shortstop Clinton Harwick and a RBI single from Ricky Gingras.

Closer Chris Gonzales took over in the ninth and was touched up by solo homeruns from Travis Molina and Jake Storrer.

The Sea Lions loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. DiCiccio walked, Harwick was hit by a pitch and, after a wild pitch advanced the runners, a free pass was given to Gingras. The third ACU hurler of the inning, Lucas Hicks, got a fly out for the third out of the frame.

Arizona Christian pushed across the winning run in the tenth when Storrer plated Eddie Aplin with a single. The Sea Lions helped ACU out by making an error that earlier had allowed Aplin to reach second base.

Sadler fanned four and gave up just one hit during his terrific 2.2 innings of relief in his first collegiate outing but was not involved in the decision.  Suffering the loss was the fifth PLNU pitcher of the day, Dani Schlarmann (0-1).

Lucas Hicks (1-0) picked up the win after blanking the Sea Lion in 1.1 innings.

PLNU right hander Tyler Garkow toed the rubber to begin game two. He ran into trouble in the second. After walking the first batter and allowing a base hit through the left side, runners were quickly on first and second with no outs. A two-out single through the right side would score the first run of the day. A blooper in the right field corner would score another and after three hits, the Firestorm was up 2-0.

Four straight walks from ACU hurler Sidney Jones in the bottom of the second would give PLNU its first run and split the score in half, 2-1.

Three errors plagued the top of the third for PLNU and resulted in another Arizona Christian run. Alex Glenn reached first base and advanced to second on a fielding error by left fielder Trey Hunt. Attempting to back pick Glenn at second base, catcher Ricky Gringas overthrew the ball into center field, giving Glenn a free pass to third. Center fielder Brian Burkhead bobbled the ball and Glenn scored. Despite the damage, Garkow left the inning with three strikeouts.

The hot hitting of Gringas drove in another run in the top of the third. The 6-foot-2 catcher roped a shot up the middle for a base hit. A sacrifice bunt from designated hitter Tyler Nordgren moved courtesy runner Daniel Hernandez to second. Lucas DiCiccio singled up the middle to put runners at first and third. A wild pitch would score Hernandez and make the score 3-2.

Garkow finished the fourth with no damage and tossed one-third of the fifth before freshman Nolan Stouder took over on the hill. And that's when things got out of hand as the Firestorm pushed across seven runs.

The Sea Lions managed a run in the bottom of the inning and with the sun setting on nearly six and half hours of baseball, each team plated one in the seventh to end the day's scoring.

Suffering the loss was Garkow (1-2) who gave up five runs (four earned) in 4.1 innings. All four PLNU pitchers were scored upon.

The winner for ACU was reliever Joey Schumer who took over in the third and closed out the game.

PLNU opens conference play on Thursday when the team hosts The Master's for two starting at 11:00 am.