SAN DIEGO - Make it 11 wins in a row for the Sea Lions, who completed a three-game sweep of Concordia by taking both games of a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 27. PLNU won the opener 4-3 on
Mike Gordner's game-winning RBI-single in the bottom of the 11th and
Kevin Lillicrop allowed just one run in eight innings to lead Point Loma to the 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
The Sea Lions (11-3) are now 9-0 at home this season. They have allowed three or less runs in each of the past six games and in 11 of 14 contests this season. The losses drop Concordia to 2-8 this season.
Game 1Mike Gordner's walk off RBI-single in the 11th inning completed a 4-3 comeback victory for the Sea Lions.
PLNU trailed 3-2 heading into the eighth before rallying on a triple by
Harrison Ramey and an RBI-single by
Ryan Garcia to tie the game at 3-3. The PLNU bullpen then worked through a couple jams to keep the game tied heading to the 11th.
Devin Carter got the rally started with a one-out single, and then he took second base on a throwing error by the catcher. Gordner stepped into the batter's box with two out and on a 2-0 pitch he lined a single to left center field to plate Carter with the game-winning run. It was the Sea Lions' first walk off win this season.
"You have to be able to score with two outs," said Point Loma head coach
Joe Schaefer. "We have offensive goals each game, and one of them is to get a two-out RBI. So to get it with two out in the bottom of the 11th as a walk-off is a great time to check that goal off.
"That was a big at-bat by Gordner and it was much needed," Schaefer added. "He was a guy we were hoping would be a middle of the lineup bat for us. He started slow but is definitely starting to come around. He is seeing the ball better and having better balance. He is doing an excellent job."
Matt Jervis led PLNU at the plate going 2-for-3 and reaching base three times. Gordner, along with
Ryan Garcia and
Devin Carter each went 2-for-5. Carter, who was a sparkplug for the offense all day, got the scoring started in the first inning with two outs as he tripled past a diving left fielder to bring in Garcia and then he scampered home on an errant throw by the shortstop. Carter finished with two runs scored and now leads the PacWest in runs scored with 17.
"We have good hitters and it seems every day someone new has the big game," said Schaefer. "It is the sign of a good team. One guy misses an opportunity the next guy steps up and gets the job done."
Trevor Abshire started for Point Loma and lasted six innings allowing six hits and three runs while walking one and striking out eight. The Cavaliers only scored off him in the sixth inning and it was aided by a couple Point Loma mistakes.
"I thought Abshire did an excellent job," said Schaefer. "We had that one bad inning which I chalk up to the lack of focus. Our goal is to stay focused on every pitch and not have those lapses, but it got the best of us in that one inning. We are going to give up runs but the goal is to not give up big innings. That was a mistake by the pitching staff and the defense to give up that big inning but it is something we can learn from."
Nathan Bennett took over in the seventh and threw three scoreless innings, including working through two situations with runners in scoring position with one out.
Coleman Huntley III put up another 'zero' in the 10th.
Patrick McMullen (1-0) got in a little trouble in the 11th, but thanks to a great outfield assist from
AJ Derr to gun down the go-ahead run from third base on a would-be sac fly, he was still able to hold Concordia scoreless to earn his first career victory.
"Having the bullpen come in and put up zero after zero was huge," Schaefer noted. "That was awesome by the pen."
Jake Brewer took the loss for Concordia after giving up the 11th inning run. Colton Krueger was fantastic for the Cavaliers. He held Point Loma to just nine hits and three runs (two earned) in nine innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.
Game 2Kevin Lillicrop held Concordia to one run and four hits over eight innings, and catcher
Mike Gordner doubled, homered and drove in three runs in Point Loma's 5-1 victory.
Lillicrop (3-0) posted perfect innings in five of the eight frames. After a shaky second inning defensively for the Sea Lions, in which Concordia scored its only run, Lillicrop retired 16 of the next 17 batters with the only Cavalier reaching courtesy of a hit by pitch. He finished the game with one walk and four strike outs while lowering his season era to 1.80. He has not allowed more than two runs in any of his four starts this season.
"Pitching is one of our strengths," explained Schaefer. "We returned all four of our starters from last year and they have all built on that experience.
"Lilli was great out there today," Schaefer continued. "He was very sharp. He located his fastball and kept the off-speed stuff down, so he missed a lot of barrels as a result. It was great to see him work deep into a ballgame. It is something her can build off of going into conference play."
A triple by
Devin Carter got the scoring going again once again in a first inning. With two outs he tripled down the right field line and then came home on an RBI-single by
Kellen Sheppard to give Point Loma the 2-0 after the first. In the third, Gordner launched his second home run of the series over the right field wall to extend the lead to 4-1. Gordner and Carter added an insurance run for PLNU in the seventh as Gordner doubled into the right field corner to score Carer from first with one out.
Matt Jervis, Carter, Sheppard and Gordner had two hits apiece to help Point Loma outhit Concordia 9-5.
Garrett Gooding pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the win and the sweep for the Sea Lions. Concordia used five different pitchers in the game. Starter Harrison McGhee took the loss after allowing five hits and four runs in three innings.
Next weekThe Sea Lions are off next week. They will return to action with the Hawaii road trip beginning Monday, Mar. 7 at Hawaii Pacific. The games will start at 6:00 p.m. (PST) during each game day in Hawaii.
