SAN DIEGO - Stephen Young threw a complete game, allowing two hits and one run, as Point Loma bounced back in the second game to earn a PacWest Conference doubleheader split with Concordia on Friday, Apr. 7. The Eagles jumped on PLNU early in the first game and held on for an 8-6 win. PLNU responded behind Young and a late four-run rally to win the nightcap, 5-1.
 
The split brings PLNU's record to 19-11 on the season and to 11-7 in the PacWest (fifth place). Concordia is now just a half-game out of third place in the PacWest with a 14-8 conference record, and they are 18-16 overall.
 
Game 1
Concordia took advantage of a couple first-inning errors by the Sea Lions to jump out to a 4-0 lead and then held off multiple PLNU rallies to win 8-6.    
 
Before Point Loma could even come to bat it fell behind as CUI scored its four runs thanks to a pair of PLNU errors and four hits.
 
"It is frustrating and we might be the worst team in the country in first-inning earned run average," said Schaefer. "Part of it is pitching and part of it is defense, but on days when it is both it can be very difficult to overcome. It is hard enough to hit in this game, but when you are constantly having to play from behind it makes it really tough on the offense. We have to get that corrected, and corrected quickly, if we want to have any chance of winning baseball games in the future."
 
Ryan Garcia did lead a valiant comeback effort for the Sea Lions. PLNU cut the lead in half with two-out RBIs by Derek Slate and Adam Rios in the second. Ryan Garcia connected on his first home run of the game in the third to cut the Eagles' lead to one (4-3). However, the Sea Lions could not put the zeroes on the board the next couple of innings and CUI extended its lead to 8-3.
 
Point Loma chipped away as Garcia hit another solo shot in the seventh and then doubled in two runs on a two-out hit in the eighth to make it 8-6. In the ninth, PLNU put its first two runners on base but a pickoff and a failed bunt attempt defused the rally and the Sea Lions fell.
 
Despite the loss, Garcia had his best game of the season going 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, four RBI and two runs scored. He also drew a walk. Adam Rios also went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Kellen Sheppard went 2-for-4 to record his 13th multi-hit game of the season.
 
Kevin Lillicrop (2-3) took the loss for Point Loma. He was charged with 11 hits and eight runs (four earned) over six innings of work. He walked two and struck out eight. Bailey Collins (1-0) earned the victory as he came out of the pen and went 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and three runs. Carpenter Pagget earned his seventh save of the season.
 
Game 2
Stephen Young dominated Concordia in a complete game, two-hit performance. He allowed just a solo home run in the second and then kept the Sea Lions in the game until they could mount a four-run rally in the eighth.
 
This was the second straight complete game performance from Young, who has now allowed just one run and four hits over his last 16 innings of work. Today, he matched a career-high with eight strike outs while walking just one. After the home run, he retired 16 straight Concordia batters and no one the rest of the game would reach second base. He faced just two batters over the minimum.
 
"(Young) doesn't change a thing," said Schaefer. "He just does what he does well and sticks with it. He works really fast, is tough to hit and get a lot of bad contact. I can't speak highly enough about the guy. He is doing an excellent job for us."
 
Ryan Garcia and Kellen Sheppard gave Young an early lead to work with. In the first with two out, Garcia laid down a bunt and got to second on a walk by Colby Kaneshiro. Kellen Sheppard then brought Garcia in with a single up the middle. CUI would tie the game with the solo home run in the second and it would remain 1-1 until the eighth.
 
Garcia got the rally started once again as he led off the inning with a single. Sheppard then doubled him in from first base and that broke the inning open for the Sea Lions. They would add three more two-out RBIs as Ryan Casper singled in one and Wyatt Champlin brought home two more.
 
"We made the adjustment we had been looking for the entire game, it just took us eight innings to figure it out," explained Schaefer. "When we made those adjustments and we were able to hit some balls hard through the middle of the field and the other way. We made the adjustment in time and got the result we were looking for. Hopefully we can make the adjustments quicker tomorrow.
 
"Ryan had really good at-bats today," continued Schaefer. "He has been plugging away these last couple of weeks and it seems he is getting better with each game. I was very happy with his at-bats both games. He is squaring up the pitches he needs to."
 
This was the sixth win of the season for Young (6-0), who lowered his ERA to a PacWest-leading 1.40. He is also pacing the conference in opponent batting average (.145) and it tied for third in wins (six). Alex Zalansky (1-4) was matching Young pitch for pitch in the first seven innings before PLNU broke through for the four runs in the eighth. Zalasky was charged with nine hits and five runs over 7.2 innings pitched. He struck out two and walked one.

Next games
These teams will continue their series at Concordia on Saturday, Apr. 8. The first pitch will take place at Noon.