This week
The Point Loma baseball team will open its 2016 PacWest schedule on the road with an eight-game trip to Hawaii. PLNU will face Hawaii Pacific on Mar. 7-8 and Hawaii Hilo on Mar. 11-12. All the games will be played as part of a doubleheader. Each doubleheader will begin at 6:00 p.m. (PST).  
 
Follow along
If you are unable to attend this week's games they will all be available for fans to follow but only on live stats. Live stats will be free of charge. To access both live stats visit plnusealions.com/gameday.
 
A look at the Sea Lions
Point Loma has put together an 11-game winning streak, which included sweeps of Cal State LA, Eastern New Mexico and Concordia (OR). The Sea Lions have been great at home early, going 9-0 at Carroll B Land Stadium.
 
Matt Jervis and Harrison Ramey are hitting .480 and .455, respectively, to pace the PacWest Conference. Jervis has hit safely in all eight game he started, including four multi-hit performances. He is also leading PLNU with a .552 on-base percentage. Ramey has six multi-hit games already this season, including a 4-for-4 performance against ENMU. He is tied for second on the team in hits (20) and is third in total bases (27). Devin Carter (.415) and AJ Derr (.413) are also hitting over .400, and rank eighth and ninth in the PacWest, respectively. Carter is third in the league in runs scored (17) and Derr is atop the leaderboard with 12 walks. Ryan Garcia continues to lead the PacWest while ranking ninth in the NCAA with 24 runs batted in. He also paces the PacWest with five home runs and is second in slugging percentage (.731). As a team, PLNU is second in the PacWest with a .322 batting average and 12 home runs.
 
Point Loma's pitching staff has taken over the PacWest lead and moved to fifth in NCAA Division II with a 1.83 earned run average. The team has already tossed four shutouts to rank second nationally. The Sea Lions have given up two or less runs in nine of 14 games this season, and no PLNU starter has allowed more than four runs in a start. Point Loma is leading the nation in walks allowed per nine innings (1.54). The Sea Lions also stand 11th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.00) and 10th in WHIP (1.03). Kellen Sheppard is leading the staff and ranked fourth in the PacWest with a 1.33 ERA. He is 3-1 this season and has been a part of two shutouts. The bullpen has a 1.00 ERA with six saves. Coleman Huntley III is third in the country with four saves. Nathan Bennett has also posted a pair of saves.
 
Sheppard named PacWest and NCWBA West Region Pitcher of the Week
Kellen Sheppard was named the PacWest and NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week or his shutout of Concordia (OR). Sheppard set the tone in the three-game series opener against Concordia by hurling an eight-hit, eight-strike out complete game shutout. He needed only 98 pitches to complete the nine innings, walking none and only allowing one runner to reach third base. Sheppard joined PLNU first baseman Ryan Garcia as the second Sea Lion to earn a NCBWA award this season. Garcia was named the West Region's Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 22-28.
 
A look at the Sharks
Hawaii Pacific is 11-3 this season, with every game being played at home. The Sharks began the year with six straight wins, and last week they went 3-1 against Concordia (CA) to open PacWest play. HPU is second in the PacWest with 6.6 runs scored per game and fourth with a .291 batting average. Tanner Tokunaga is pacing the Sharks and ranks fifth in the PacWest with a .425 batting average. Rico Garcia leads the Sharks' pitching staff. He is fifth in the league with a 1.57 ERA and a .198 opposing batting average. Brandon Bonilla is tied with PLNU's Huntley for second in the country and the PacWest lead with four saves.
 
A look at the Vulcans
Hawaii Hilo is 2-6 this season and 1-5 in PacWest play. UHH will finish its series against Azusa Pacific before facing PLNU later in the week. Currently, the Vulcans are on a five-game losing streak. The pitching staff has a 4.74 ERA and opponents are batting .302 off them. Jordan Kurokawa (1.20) and Eric Vega (1.69) are the top pitchers on the staff. Kurokawa (1-1) tossed a shutout in the season opener against the University of Hawaii and has allowed just 10 hits in 15 innings, while striking out 13. Sean Nearhoof is leading the offense with a .417 batting average and a .440 on-base percentage.
 
Next week
The Sea Lions will be off the following week before returning to action against Concordia (CA) on Mar. 24. The teams will play a doubleheader in Irvine, Calif., on Thursday at Noon before returning to PLNU to play another doubleheader on Friday at Noon to close out the series.