SAN DIEGO - Grand slams bookend the Senior Day games today as the Point Loma baseball team earned three victories within six hours. Micah Pries' grand slam in the bottom of the 14th completed an epic finish for PLNU with a 10-6 victory in a game delayed from Friday night. Then Stephen Young went out and pitched eight strong innings to help lift Point Loma to an 8-2 win in the first regularly scheduled game. Adam Rios then put the explanation mark on the weekend with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth in the series finale to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 victory and a series sweep for the Sea Lions.
 
Delayed game: Micah Pries registered two home runs and eight RBI in the game, but there may not have been a better team win for the Sea Lions this year.
 
Twice in extra innings, PLNU answered runs from Fresno Pacific and hung on long enough to get the win. Point Loma used seven pitchers in the game. The bullpen went 8.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned), to give the Sea Lions the chance to make the comeback.
 
After Point Loma saw their early 4-1 lead chipped away and Fresno Pacific was able to push the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Braden Frankfort put the Sunbirds in front with a solo shot to left field. The Sea Lions could have yielded at this point, but as this team has continued to do all year, they fought to the very last pitch.
 
After the first two batters of the inning went down quietly, Kyle Gracey came to the plate. He had entered the game as a pinch runner in the ninth and stayed in the game in right field. It was his first at-bat of the day and just his third at-bat of the year, but you would never know by the result. After taking the first pitch for a strike, he squared up the next pitch and drove it over the left field wall for the game-tying home run.
 
In the 14th, FPU scored on a PLNU error after Tristen Alvarez stole third base during an intentional walk and the throw ticked off the third baseman's glove and went down the left field line. Once again the Sea Lions showed no panic. After the first out, PLNU received a walk, a hit batter and John Balliet loaded the bases with a single. Alekzander De La Cruz then drew a walk on a full-count pitch to plate the tying run. But this time Point Loma would not settle for just one run.
 
Micah Pries worked his way to a 3-0 count, and after FPU battled back to make it a full-count, he made them pay. He launched the fastball into the right-center field gap, and despite a leaping effort but the Sunbirds' center field, the ball got over the fence for the walk-off grand slam.
 
Pries finished the game 2-for-6 with two home runs, eight RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
 
JoJo Ploanski (1-0) earned the victory after taking over on the mound to begin play on Saturday. He went 1.2 innings, allowing no hits, three walks, but no earned runs while striking out two. Starter Trevor Abshire went the first 5.1 innings allowing six hits and three runs while walking two and striking out five.
 
Game 1: Point Loma put up crooked numbers in each of the first three innings and the senior Stephen Young did the rest in an 8-2 victory.
 
After scoring two runs in the first and the second innings, Adrian Collazo and Travis Takata hit back-to-back home runs in the third to extend the Sea Lions' lead to 6-1.
 
That would be more than enough for Young in his final career start at Carroll B. Land Stadium. The senior went eight innings allowing four hits, two runs and just one walk while striking out seven. The only two runs he allowed were solo home runs. Young (7-2) has now won his last seven starts. Patrick McMullen finished off the win with a perfect ninth.
 
Travis Takata was 3-for-4 with a double, a home runs, two RBI and a run scored. Pries collected three more hits to add to his PacWest-leading total and also added an RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. Collazo added two more hits and two more RBI, which included his second home run of the season.
 
Game 2: There was never any panic in the Sea Lions' eyes throughout the final game of the series. Despite falling behind 3-1 after three innings, PLNU maintained its confidence with Wyatt Shackleford on the mound and a quality offense to back him up.
 
Shackleford settled in after giving up the three-run homer to Frankfort and allowed the Sea Lions to begin chipping away at the lead. PLNU cut the lead to one (3-2) in the fifth on a two-out, RBI-single by Colby Kaneshiro.
 
In the sixth after the first two batters got out, the rally began for Point Loma. Takata and Justin Ledgerwood had back-to-back singles and then pinch hitter Adrian Collazo walked on four pitches to load the bases for Rios. He worked himself into a full-count before crushing the ball over the right field wall to turn the 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 Sea Lions' lead.
 
Shackleford (9-1) would pitch a perfect seventh to complete his ninth straight win. It was also his fourth complete game of the season. He allowed four hits and three runs while walking four and striking out three.
 
Rios finished the game 2-for-3 with a double, a home runs, four RBI and two runs scored. Micah Pries also recorded a multi-hit game, including another double.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (31-14, 27-9 PacWest), Fresno Pacific (16-26, 13-23 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The sweep, coupled with Azusa Pacific (37-7, 27-7 PacWest) winning three of four this weekend, brings the Sea Lions within just one game of first place in the PacWest standings. PLNU is two games back in the loss column but even with the Cougars in PacWest Conference wins. The two teams will essentially be playing for the 2018 PacWest Championship when they meet in Azusa on May 7-9.   
 
Schaefer speaks
On Gracey's home run: "I had him hit in that situation for the exact thing that happened. Of all the guys we had left, he has the ability to do that. I am so, so excited for him that he came through with that big swing for us. That was huge."
 
On the delayed game: "I didn't think we had any business being in that game. They were outplaying in a lot of aspects and we weren't playing very good defense. But to still be in that game, mainly because the bullpen arms were doing so well, really gave us a chance to win it late."
 
On learning from extra-inning games: "It all starts with the bullpen. Being able to put a scoreless inning on the board and give the offense the chance to win the game. We've won our fair share in walk-off fashion because the bullpen put a zero on the board and gave the offense a chance."
 
On the fight in his PLNU team: "It is awesome to watch. Just knowing we can come back from any deficit, at any time and with any guy in the box. This team just believes that whoever is up is going to be 'the guy.' It is something special and something I haven't seen in a long time. This group plays well together, they fight until the last pitch and they believe in each other."
 
On Micah Pries: "It was not just today or that one game, he has been locked in the last two weeks. He is seeing the ball well, swinging at the right pitches and his approach is correct. He is taking what they give him and punishing them for their mistakes. He is as dialed in right now as I've ever seen any of our guys."
 
On Stephen Young's performance: "What an awesome performance for his last start here at Point Loma. It was outstanding. He had a game plan and he executed it to perfection. It was awesome."
 
On Shackleford: "He came out of the gate locked-in but the game then got away from him a little bit. He walked a few guys and they punished a mistake. But after that he put zeros on the board and gave us a chance to try and fight our way back into the game. It was huge. Especially after the 14 inning game, and using the bullpen, it was really big to have Young go eight innings and Shackleford pitch the complete game."
 
On Rios' grand slam in game 4: "That at-bat his time before was the one I'm just as proud of. Their pitcher was doing a great job and we weren't making the adjustments. Rios made the adjustment in the previous at-bat with the double to the opposite field. At that point he was locked in and if he got his pitch he wasn't going to miss it, and he came through with one of the biggest swings of the season."
 
On Fresno Pacific: "I don't think their record reflects how competitive of a team they are. Offensively, I think they are as good or better than anyone in the conference. They are physical in the middle, fight off tough pitches and they have some pretty good starting arms. I know they are down a few pieces, but I think that team is significantly better than what their record reflects."
 
News and Notes
> Point Loma has now won 30 or more games in four straight seasons
> PLNU has won 14 straight games overall and 14 straight games at Carroll B. Land Stadium
> The walk-off win in the delayed game was the Sea Lions' third walk-off win in their last six games
> Rios has eight home runs as a senior after posting just one as a junior
> Flores now ranks seventh in PLNU history with 58 runs driven in in a season and is tied for third with 18 home runs. The single-season records are 19 home runs (Steinhauer, Boyer) and 63 RBI (Kuehl, Robinson)
> Shackleford remains tied atop the PacWest with nine wins
> The Sea Lions outscored the Sunbirds in the series 33-17
 
Up Next
Point Loma will be playing for the 2018 PacWest Championship on May 7-9 in Azusa, Calif. The teams will play single games on Monday and Wednesday, and have a doubleheader on Tuesday.