OAKLAND - Kellen Sheppard threw a complete game, allowing just five hits and one unearned run, while striking out five, to lead the Point Loma baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Holy Names in the third game of the four-game series (Mar. 13).
 
The Sea Lions are now 15-7 on the season and 3-4 in the PacWest. The loss drops HNU below .500 to 11-12 (3-8 PacWest).
 
Sheppard improved to 2-0 with the win. He has thrown at least seven innings in each of his last three starts after moving to the No. 3 spot in the rotation and has just a 2.33 earned run average in that span.
 
"Sheppard was great today," said Point Loma head coach Joe Schaefer. "He attacked the zone, got lots of outs early in the count and located (the ball) all game."
 
The Sea Lions staked Sheppard to a 4-0 lead with two runs in the first and another two in the second. The first three batters of the first inning reached base before Joseph Keller singled in a run and Ryan Garcia capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to put PLNU up 2-0. Point Loma tacked on two more in the second on an RBI-single by Tyler Baker and a sac fly by AJ Derr.
 
Anthony Torres and Keller each had two hits to lead the Sea Lions, who switched up their lineup today with the hopes of creating more offense. Torres had a double, two runs scored and a stolen base. He is hitting .667 with seven runs scored and four stolen bases over his last five games. Derr also knocked in another run in the eighth to finish with two RBI.  
 
"We struggled offensively yesterday and didn't get quality at-bats but today was much better," Schaefer explained. "We got productive outs and at-bats, and we were able to capitalize on walks and a few of their mistakes."
 
The teams will close out their series with a single game on Saturday, Mar. 14 at 11:00 a.m.
 
"Our goal is to win each week," Schaefer continued. "Coming back to win two after dropping the first one puts us in a good spot to win the series with Trevor Abshire on the mound."