SAN DIEGO - It took a long time for the Sea Lions' bats to do anything on Saturday but they came alive just in time with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to lift the Point Loma baseball team to a 2-0 win in the series finale and take three of four in the series from Western Oregon.
 
Point Loma dropped the opening game 17-0, but quickly bounced back with the win in the second game of the doubleheader for its best start to the season since the 2011 season.
 
Game 2
Freshman Trevor Abshire stepped up when the Sea Lions needed him to with five scoreless innings to start the game, and John Shurance and Coleman Huntley III each delivered scoreless innings in relief to combine on a 2-0 shutout.
 
Abshire allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out six in his collegiate debut. He gave way to fellow freshman John Shurance (1-0) who pitched a perfect top of sixth to pick up the win. Huntley III pitched through a leadoff walk and an error by getting two strike outs and fly out to earn the save (1).
 
"(Abshire) was lights out today and that is why we recruited him," said PLNU head coach Joe Schaefer. "We know what we was capable of. We knew he could pitch in big games, with confidence and excellence stuff.
 
"You are always worried what the first outing of the season will look like, especially as a freshman in college, but that was about as good as you can be for your first collegiate outing," Schaefer continued. "The five scoreless innings out of him were a big reason we were able to win that game."
 
Preston Sands once again came up with a big hit late for the Sea Lions. He delivered the two-run, two-out double in the bottom of the eighth to send the opener to extra innings, and tonight he led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and took second on a ball in the dirt with no out. He came in to score on AJ Derr's RBI-single as Derr advanced all the way to third on a throwing error. After Connor Larson drew a walk, Ryan Garcia doubled to left field to plate Derr as an insurance run.
 
"We weren't having good approaches at the plate, and were throwing at-bats away consistently," Schaefer explained. "We couldn't string anything together until that sixth inning when some guys came up with some big at-bats in a row and making aggressive moves on the base paths. It was what we were looking for all weekend; good, consistent at-bats and we got it that last inning."
 
Joseph Keller had two of the Sea Lions six hits in the game as he went 2-for-2 with a double.
 
Game 1
Garret Harpole went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and six RBI as Western Oregon took game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 17-0.
 
The Wolves got on a roll early that the Sea Lions could never stop. They scored two in the first and seven in the third to put the game away early. Six different Wolves scored at least two runs.
 
Darrien Moran pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits, to start the game before Tyler Bennett threw the final two as the pair combined on the shutout. PLNU struck out just once in the game.
 
Connor Larson recorded his first career multi-hit game for the Sea Lions as he went 2-for-4.
 
"The goal every weekend is to win the series," Schaefer added. "You want to put yourself in a position to sweep, and we lost that early, but the ultimate goal is to win the series, and we got that done today. It doesn't have to be pretty, and it wasn't today, but we got it done."
 
Next Games
The Sea Lions will continue their early season homestand with a pair of games against Cal State San Bernardino. The teams will play single games on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 12-13) starting at 2:00 p.m.
 
"It is nice that we have three days to prepare (for Cal State San Bernardino)," Schaefer said. "Our infield defense has been horrendous this weekend, and it was supposed to be one of our strengths, so we have some work to do there and with our mental approaches at the plate."