FRESNO, Calif. -- Two days after sweeping Fresno Pacific at Carroll B. Land Stadium, Point Loma Nazarene suffered payback by the Sunbirds on a rainy Central Valley Saturday, falling 2-1 and 7-5 at the FPU Diamond. The two losses drop the Sea Lions to 15-22 overall, 8-16 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

The two conference rivals managed just four hits apiece in the opener due to the excellent pitching of PLNU starter Tyler Garkow and his Sunbird counterpart, Josh Medeles.

A pair of Sea Lion errors directly led to Fresno Pacific scoring a first-inning run. The offenses would be quiet for the next few innings until Point Loma's at-bat in the seventh. Catcher Ricky Gingras singled to start the frame. After two quick outs, pinch-runner Eddie Roberts stole second and came home on a single by right fielder Lucas DiCiccio.

Tied 1-1, the game looked like it was headed to extra frames. Garkow got two quick outs before giving up a double to Michael Rivera.  Robbie De La Cruz then came through with a single to left field that plated pinch-runner Conner Monis for the walk-off victory.

Garkow (3-6) suffered the loss despite yielding just two runs (one earned) on four hits.  The righty fanned eight Sunbirds and walked two, throwing 107 pitches.

Rivera (1-0), who got the FPU rally started with a double from his DH spot, was also the winning pitcher. He faced just two batters. Medeles wasn't involved in the decision, though he threw 8.1 stellar innings.

Fresno Pacific got off to a fast start in game two against PLNU's Garrett Gooding. The Sunbirds pushed across three runs in the first and four more in the second to chase the first-time starter.

Dani Schlarmann took the ball from Gooding with one out in the second and retired the Sunbirds through three. Garrett Levsen did the same for two frames as did Nolan Stouder.

After being shutout for six innings by FPU starter Chris Herrera the Sea Lions struck for five runs in the top of the seventh to close the deficit to two runs.

Only two of the five Sea Lion runs were earned in the frame as the Sunbird pitching and defense struggled in the inning. PLNU sent 10 batters to the plate, collecting just two hits and two walks, but was helped out with a hit batter, a wild pitch, two errors and a passed ball.

That outburst would be the last for the Sea Lions on the day. The final outburst came from the skies in the form of rain that halted play after seven innings in the nine-inning scheduled tilt.

Taking the loss was Gooding who falls to 1-1 on the year.  Herrera upped his season mark to 6-2 with Wilson Ashford picking up the save for FPU.

The Sunbirds improved to 19-16, 10-12 GSAC.

PLNU takes a break from conference play when the team travels to Phoenix on Thursday to take on Arizona Christian. First pitch of the twinbill is slated for noon. Following the Easter Holiday, the Sea Lions will go up against county rival Cal State San Marcos for a three-game series.

The Green and Gold returns to conference play on Thursday, April 19, against Biola. PLNU has just eight GSAC tilts left on the 2012 schedule and needs a strong finish to be among the six teams to qualify for the conference postseason tournament.