SAN DIEGO - A top 25 doubleheader matchup took place on Monday (Mar. 20) at Carroll B. Land Stadium between No. 20 Point Loma and No. 25 Colorado Mesa. PLNU won the opener 1-0 before CMU bounced back to win the nightcap 3-2 in 10 innings.
 
The loss snaps the Sea Lions (16-4) winning streak, which reached 13 with the victory in game 1. The split moves Colorado Mesa to 14-8.
 
Game 1
Kevin Lillicrop and three relievers made a 1-0 lead hold up as the Sea Lions recorded their third shutout of the season.
 
The only run of the game came on an RBI-groundout by Harrison Ramey in the third which scored Colby Kaneshiro from third. PLNU had just two hits in the contest, compared to nine for the Mavericks, but one came in a key spot in the third as Pries singled Kaneshiro to third with just one out.
 
Lillicrop would take over from there. He went six innings, allowing seven hits and no runs, while walking none and striking out four. He only ran into trouble in the sixth when CMU loaded the bases with one out, but Lillicrop got a strikeout and a grounder to first to end the threat.
 
In the seventh, CMU again loaded the bases but Patrick McMullen was able to come into the game and get the final out to end the threat. He followed it up with two strikeouts during a perfect eighth inning, before turning the ball over to Eric Pierce for his eighth save of the season.
 
"I can't remember the last time we won a game 1-0 in this ballpark," explained Point Loma head coach Joe Schaefer. "It was very impressive, especially against an offensive team like Colorado Mesa. That was really impressive. Lillicrop was outstanding and Millerd, McMullen and Pierce all did their jobs putting up a 'zero' in their innings. It was an awesome job against a really good offensive team.
 
"We have a lot of confidence in our back of the bullpen guys and we know if we can take a lead into the seventh or eighth inning we are in pretty good shape," added Schaefer.
 
Game 2
The winning streak came to an end as Colorado Mesa rallied for two runs in the seventh and another in the 10th to defeat the Sea Lions 3-2.
 
Point Loma went up 2-0 on a solo home run by Wyatt Champlin in the second and a safety squeeze play by Adam Rios in the fifth.
 
Stephen Young was rolling through the first part of the game and even carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. But the Mavericks JJ Carr broke up the no-hitter on an 0-2 count to lead off the inning and one batter later Garrett Ball launched a homer to right-center field to tie the game at 2-2.
 
It stayed that way into the 10th inning. Bligh Madris led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second. The next batter roped the ball that looked like it was heading right down the line but PLNU third baseman Travis Takata snagged it for the second out of the inning, and it looked like the Sea Lions might escape trouble. However, the next batter, Kevan Elcock, hit the ball into left field and Madris sprinted in from second with the eventual game-winning run.
 
Brick Paskiewicz pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Mavericks to lock down the save. Kyle Leahy (5-0) earned the win after pitching scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
 
Stephen Young went eight innings for the Sea Lions, allowing two hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out five. He earned a no-decision. Patrick McMullen (2-1) took the loss after allowing two hits and one run over two innings of work.
 
"Stephen was excellent today and he has been excellent all season long," said Schaefer. "I can't sing his praises enough. He is going and awesome job putting 'zeroes' on the board and we continue to play good defense behind him. It has given us a chance to win in every start this year."
 
This is the third straight season the Sea Lions have put together a winning streak in the double-digits. In 2015, PLNU posted a school-record 17 game winning streak, before rattling off 12 straight in 2016 and 13 in a row this year.
 
PLNU has now scored just five runs over its last three games after averaging 8.7 runs in their previous 10 games.
 
"We just need to slow some things down mentally on offensive," explained Schaefer. "We have made some mistakes and compounded that into our next at-bat. We just need to slow things down mentally and go back to what made us successful."
 
Next games
Point Loma will be in for a big test this weekend when it faces No. 13 Dixie State (20-6, 9-3 PacWest) in a four-game series in St. George, Utah. The series will begin on Friday, Mar. 24.