SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma baseball team opened the 2017 PacWest season with a pair of victories over Hawaii Pacific. PLNU scored eight runs in the third inning and continued to tack on while Kellen Sheppard struck out 10 over eight innings to win the opener 18-1. Kevin Lillicrop matched him with eight innings in game two and the other right fielder Ryan Casper went deep in a 6-2 victory.
 
Point Loma is now 8-3 on the season and has won its last five in a row. Hawaii Pacific falls to 11-5 (1-3 PacWest).
 
Game 1
Wyatt Champlin's first career home run sparked an eight-run third inning, in which he also added a double and three RBI, and the Sea Lions' cruised to an 18-1 victory behind its ace, Kellen Sheppard's 10 strikeouts.
 
Hawaii Pacific struck first with a single run in the first but after Champlin's leadoff shot nearly hit the scoreboard to tie the game that was the last time there would be any action on the HPU side. Point Loma batted around in the inning, using small-ball tactics to set up base runners for big hits. Ryan Garcia blasted a three-run shot, his third homer of the year, and Champlin capped off the inning with a two-run double.
 
Point Loma would go on score two runs in each of the next three innings before finishing their scoring with four more in the seventh.
 
Champlin finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk, a double, two home runs, five RBI, two runs scored. Senior Ryan Garcia was 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, four RBI and three runs scored. Sheppard also chipped in at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double, a RBI and three runs scored. Five other Sea Lions also scored two runs apiece.
 
"We have a lot of confidence in Wyatt and he didn't start the season out great but he has been working his butt off the past few weeks to earn the right to start today," said Point Loma head coach Joe Schaefer. "All his work on the field came to fruition today. He was a spark plug for us early and continued it the rest of the day."
 
On the mound, Sheppard (3-0) struck out a season-high 10 over eight innings allowing seven hits and just one run, while striking out 10 and walking none.
 
"(The 18 runs) creates confidence in our dugout that we are going to be able to hit and are going to be able to score runs in the series," added Schaefer. "It also gives the pitching staff confidence that they can go out and attack because there are going to be runs put on the board from their hitters. That was a great start."
 
Game 2
Point Loma again jumped out to an early lead and turned to a senior pitcher to take them deep into the game for the victory. PLNU scored one in the first and Ryan Casper launched his first career home run to the opposite field off the scoreboard for the momentum and a 3-0 lead after two innings. An RBI-single by Sheppard extended the lead in the fourth and Lillicrop went from there.
 
Lillicrop sent the Sharks down in order in three of the first four innings, with the only exception being picked off first. He didn't run into trouble unto the sixth when Hawaii Pacific put the first three runners of the game on and went on to score its only two runs of the contest. Lillicrop responded with two more scoreless innings before calling it a night. He finished pitching eight innings allowing six hits, two walks and two runs while striking out six.
 
"That is who we knew (Sheppard and Lillicrop) are," said Schaefer. "They hadn't been real sharp before but today they showed who they are; they are our No. 1 and No. 2 for a reason. They were very good today. They kept the ball down, located in and out and attacked the bottom of the strike zone all game which is why they had that success."
 
Casper finished the game 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored. Colby Kaneshiro and Ryan Garcia also added multi-hit games.
 
Next games
The series will continue on Monday, Mar. 6 with two more games beginning at 11 a.m.