SAN DIEGO - Seven Point Loma pitchers combined on a 9-0 shutout of crosstown rival San Diego Christian in a non-conference game on Wednesday, Apr. 8, as the Sea Lions extended their school-record winning streak to 17 games.
 
Eric Pierce (7-2) got the starting nod and earned the victory to send the Sea Lions to their 30th win of the season (30-7). This was the first time PLNU has reached the 30-win plateau since the 2010 season. Pierce went the first three innings allowing four hits but no earned runs.
 
Pierce then turned the ball over the bullpen, which pitched the final six innings allowing just two hits in the process. John Shurance, Noah Huggins, Lane O'Dea, Patrick McMullen, Garrett Gooding and Sam Sadler earn posted a scoreless inning against San Diego Christian (9-33) in the victory.
 
"That has been the role of the bullpen all year," said Point Loma head coach Joe Schaefer. "Keep them to short stints and put a zero on the board. A lot of guys had that opportunity today and they all did a good job with it."
 
Once again it was the top of the order that fueled Point Loma's offense as the top five hitters combined to go 7-for-17 with two RBI and all nine runs scored. Ryan Garcia and AJ Derr each crossed the plate three times, and Devin Carter came around to score twice.

PLNU scored one in the second and three unearned runs in the third to build a 4-0 lead. They would tack on a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth to extend their lead in this single game.
 
"This game was a bit different because you are used to playing on the weekend and now you have some arms that are on short rest," added Schaefer. "It was a little tricky but it was a great chance to get our bullpen arms some opportunities, and our hitters did a good job scoring runs to get other guys on the field."

Point Loma will be on a competition hiatus until next Friday when they welcome in PacWest rivals Fresno Pacific for a four-game series on Apr. 17-18.
 
"We would love to keep playing but we need rest with three tough weeks in front of us," Schaefer added. "We are going to rest up this weekend and come back next weekend fully rested and ready to go."