SAN DIEGO – The Point Loma baseball team swept its second straight series and extended its winning streak to a season-best 10 games by taking a doubleheader from Academy of Art on Saturday, Apr. 14. In the opener, PLNU hit six home runs to win 18-4, before getting a walkoff 2-1 win on an Adam Rios-single in the series finale.
 
Game 1: John Balliet and Tyler Flores each went deep twice and the Point Loma baseball team clubbed six home runs to win 18-4.
 
PLNU scored in every inning but the first and never trailed in the game. After putting up two runs in the second, Point Loma scored six in the third and extended its lead to 8-0 thanks to a three-run homer by Rios and a two-run shot from John Balliet. In the sixth, Balliet would increase the lead to 15-4 with a grand slam over the right field wall. Flores would tack on another home run in the seventh, his second solo shot of the game, before Alekzander De La Cruz capped off the scoring in the eighth with his first career home run.
 
Stephen Young (6-2) was the beneficiary of the Sea Lions' offensive outburst as he earned his sixth straight win. The senior lefty went 5.2 innings allowing seven hits and four runs, while walking four and striking out three. The bullpen took over from there and the trio of Robert Ortiz III, Alex Strizak and Ryan Casper allowed just one hit over the final 3.1 innings.
 
Balliet finished the game 2-for-4 with two walks, two home runs, six RBI and two runs scored. Adam Rios drove in four runs to go along with his home run and single. Tyler Flores was 3-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Izac Bauer went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lead ART U. Gonzo Rios (2-1) took the loss after yielding seven hits and eight runs in 2.1 innings pitched.
 
Game 2: The PLNU baseball team closed out the series just like they started it, with a walkoff win in extra innings.
 
Wyatt Shackleford (8-1) was dealing all game. He threw all eight innings, allowing just five hits and one run, while walking two and striking out five. But has good as Shackleford was Academy of Art's starter, Chris Petrosie (2-1), matched him pitch for pitch. Petrosie went the first seven innings, allowing just two hits and one run. He set 16 Sea Lions down in order before extra innings.
 
In the extra frame, Adrian Collazo led off with a triple down the right field line to put the winning run in scoring position with no outs. After ART U was able to cut off a grounder for an out it brought senior Adam Rios to the plate with the chance to be the hero. He seized the opportunity, smashing a hard hit grounder off the first baseman and the second baseman and into right field to plate pinch-runner Kyle Gracey with the game-winning run.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (27-14, 23-9 PacWest), Academy of Art (18-19, 13-15 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The pair of victories keeps PLNU in second place in the PacWest standings. The Sea Lions are three games back of first-place Azusa Pacific (30-3, 20-3 PacWest) and three games up on third-place California Baptist (25-13, 18-10 PacWest). The sweep dropped ART U below .500 in conference play (13-15 PacWest) as they remain sixth in the PacWest standings.
 
Schaefer speaks
On importance of sweeping the series: "Every game from this point forward is extremely important, regardless of the opponent. To get the first game today and win the series was great. That is our goal every week, but to find a way to win the last game and keep adding to the win column was huge. This helps send us into the last two weeks with momentum. It is huge that our momentum was not stopped in the last game of the series and we can keep it going into the bye week is a huge deal."
 
On playing on a short-rest week: "It can be kind of nice to play of short rest. At this point in the season practice can easily get monotonous. This team is built for tournament play so if we can get into the tournament and play day after day, I think we can do well because we tend to get better as the weekend goes on. Getting a lot of games in a short amount of time can be a really good thing."
 
On competing in every inning: "You have to win every inning. That is our goal. That is what I was most proud of in our first game today. We put a lot of runs on the board but more importantly we scored in seven out of the eight offensive innings. I was more proud of that than our total number of runs."
 
On the bullpen: "We needed that from the bullpen guys in the first game. We need guys that come out of the pen, pound the zone and force the other team to win it with hits. I was proud of the bullpen.
 
On Shackleford's start: "In the second game, I was proud of Shack. It was an emotional game. He was making pitches and not getting calls, but he responded and made pitches when he needed to to get out of jams. It was a great game from him."   
 
News and Notes
> PLNU never trailed in the entire series
> When Colby Kaneshiro homered in the first inning of the series finale, it was his first home run in nearly two years. His last came on Apr. 30 of his freshman season
> After entering the week with no student-athlete with a multi-homer game, Rios, Flores, Pries and Balliet all went yard twice in games this week
> PLNU had just 13 hits while scoring 18 runs in the first game
> Flores now ranks ninth in PLNU history with 55 runs driven in in a season and is fifth with 17 home runs. The single-season records are 19 home runs (Steinhauer, Boyer) and 63 RBI (Kuehl, Robinson)
> Shackleford is now tied atop the PacWest with eight wins
> The Sea Lions outscored the Urban Knights in the series 32-12
> Point Loma has now won seven straight games over ART U and 10 straight games overall
 
Up Next
Point Loma will be on its bye week next week. It will continue play on Apr. 27-28 when it hosts Fresno Pacific for a four-game set.