SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma baseball team swept a doubleheader from Cal State San Marcos on Saturday, Feb. 28 to take three of four games in the series. PLNU won the opener 9-2 behind Kellen Sheppard and then the bullpen carried them to a 10-inning win in game two, 4-3.
 
The Sea Lions are now 12-3 on the season and the Cougars are 12-8.
 
Game 1
Kellen Sheppard pitched his best game of the season and the top four hitters in the lineup once again fueled the Sea Lions' offense in a 9-2 win over Cal State San Marcos. Sheppard went the first eight innings allowing just two runs (one earned) and 10 hits, while striking out three to earn his first victory of the season.
 
"We were hoping to see progress from Sheppard today and we did," said Point Loma head coach Joe Schaefer. "He was outstanding today. He gave up a decent amount of hits but none were in key situations. It was good to see him do well."
 
The 1-4 hitters in the Sea Lions' lineup combined to go 9-for-19 with five runs scored and five RBI. No. 2 hitter Tyler Baker led the way by going 4-for-5 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. No. 3 hitter Ryan Garcia recorded two hits and two RBI, including his second home run of the season. AJ Derr scored two runs out of his leadoff spot, and third baseman Matt Jervis also crossed the plate twice.
 
PLNU built a 3-0 lead through the second inning with one run in the first and two in the second. CSUSM cut the led to 5-2 with a run in the top of the eighth but PLNU answered with four in their half of the eighth, which included a two-run homer by Garcia to cap off the scoring.
 
"It is nice in any ballgame when you don't have to throw the ninth inning with the game on the line," Schaefer explained. "It is encouraging because our bullpen arms have been so good this year but everyone would agree they would rather have a five or six-run lead anytime over a one or two-run lead."
 
Coleman Huntley III pitched a perfect ninth, with two strike outs, to close out the game.
 
Dylan Costello was 4-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI for the Cougars.

Game 2
The Sea Lions' bullpen delivered seven innings of one-run baseball to allow Point Loma to come back and win the series finale 4-3 on an error in the 10th inning.
 
Mickey Dunleavy, Alex Leal, Garrett Gooding, Coleman Huntley III, John Shurance and Lane O'Dea all came out of the bullpen for PLNU, and each pitched big innings in critical spots. Dunleavy was the only reliever to allow a run but he still went 2.1 innings after taking over for starter Trevor Abshire to begin the fourth inning.
 
The consistency of the bullpen gave the Sea Lions multiple chances to come back in the game. They fell behind 2-1 after the third inning before rallying for two unearned runs on two CSUSM errors. The Cougars made six errors in the game, and 10 on the day.
 
Cal State San Marcos answered back with a run in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3. The game remained at that score, thanks to the bullpen, until the bottom of the 10th when PLNU mounted a two-out rally.

After the first two batters in the inning struck out, Tyler Baker drew a walk, then Ryan Garcia was hit by a pitch and Devin Carter was intentionally walked to load the bases. Matt Jervis came up and hit the ball towards third base where the third baseman fielded it going to his left. The third baseman looked at first but decided to go the short way to second base, however, his throw was high and pulled the second baseman off the bag to allow Baker to come in from third with the game-winning run.
 
"The most encouraging part of this game was the bullpen arms," said Schaefer. "It was outstanding work by them. They pitched out of some extremely tough situations and the whole bullpen did an outstanding job. The bullpen was incredible in the second game and I credit them with the victory."

Lane O'Dea (1-0) earned his first career win with a perfect 10th inning. He struck out one. Kyle Montiel (1-2) took the loss for the Cougars.
 
Devin Carter had two of the Sea Lions' five hits in the game, including his fourth homer of the season in the second inning. Stefan Miladinovich was 4-for-6  to lead CSUSM.
 
Next games
Point Loma will now prepare to open Pacific West Conference play next weekend when it goes to Azusa Pacific for a four-game series starting on Friday, March 6.
 
"We still have a lot to work on," Schaefer continued. "The encouraging thing is that we are winning games and we are yet to put it all together. We still have a lot of work to do offensively and with our infield defense, but we are finding ways to win games which is all we can ask for. We are happy with where we are now but we still have a lot of work to do."