Box Score

SAN DIEGO- Another day and another one-run game for the Point Loma baseball team, but this time they came up on the winning side of a 5-4 decision against the University of British Columbia (UBC) on Thursday, Feb. 13.

This is the second straight one-run victory for the Sea Lions (2-5) who were on the wrong end of these scores in four of their first five contests. The loss was the first for the Thunderbirds who were opening their season on Thursday after last week's games in Lewiston, Idaho were rained out.

Preston Sands and Joseph Keller each drove in two runs for the Sea Lions which erased a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning when Sands tripled in two runs and then scored on an RBI-ground out by Keller to give PLNU a 4-3 lead heading into the eighth.

UBC quickly put the pressure back on PLNU by putting their first two runners of the inning on base. Coach Schaefer then went to his bullpen for lefty Cole Chandler. Chandler walked the first batter he faced but was able to limit the damage to a sacrifice fly as he struck out Vinny Martin with the bases loaded and no outs then got consecutive fly balls to the outfield as the game went to the bottom of the eighth tied at 4-4.

Ryan Garcia led off the inning by drawing a walk and after a steal he moved to third base with one out on a grounder by Marcus Heisner. Lucas DiCiccio then proceeded to strike out but as he swung at the third pitch it hit the dirt and scooted by the catcher allowing Garcia to sprint home with the eventual game-winning run.

"We will take it every time," said PLNU head coach Joe Schaefer about the wild pitch that scored the game-winning run. "It isn't pretty but we have lost plenty of games on equally strange plays already this year. These guys fought hard, played good defense and they deserved to win this game. It wasn't the prettiest way to win it but we will take the win every time. "

Sebastian Santos pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up his first save of the season. Chandler (1-0) earned the first win of his PLNU career as pitched the eighth inning allowing just one walk while striking out one.  Garret Levsen started the game for PLNU and went the first seven innings allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out five.

Alex Webb (0-1) took the loss for the Thunderbirds as he was charged with the run when Garcia scored on the passed ball. He allowed just that one run and one walk in an inning of work. UBC starter Sean Callegari pitched 6.1 innings allowing 10 hits and four earned runs.

Freshman Matt Jervis and senior Clinton Harwick each recorded three hits for PLNU which outhit UBC 11-8. Harwick added two runs scored and a stolen base. AJ Derr also posted a multi-hit game and a run scored.

"It is all a learning experience," Schaefer explained. "We had a really tough first two weeks of the season playing as many one-run games as we did and losing some late leads. The schedule was designed the way it was knowing we were going to be in battles the first few series of the year and hopefully a day like today starts to show the fruits of our labor from being battle tested early. 

"We now know we can fight back and win a one-run ball game," continued Schaefer. "I am proud of our guys for showing heart and not panicking. A lot of that just comes from experience in tight games which we are going to need going into conference play.

"It was great to see that from Chandler and Santos," added Schaefer. "We have had a light bullpen the last few weeks with some guys battling through injuries. The guys are starting to become the guys we thought they would be. We need guys that can come in on the backside of games and just pound the strike zone. We struggled early in the year but now guys are starting to come around and settle into roles."

The Sea Lions and Thunderbirds will continue their three-game series on Friday, Feb. 14 with another single nine-inning contest. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The series will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 15. The first pitch there is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.