SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma baseball team swept its season-opening doubleheader from Montevallo. PLNU got a great starting performance from Zack Noll to win the first game 3-1. Then in game 2, Justin Ledgerwood delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to lift PLNU to the 5-4 win.
 
Game 1: Zack Nolls dominated over six innings. He struck out nine and allowed just one hit and one walk. He needed just 73 pitches to get through the six frames and no Falcon reached second base with Noll on the mound.
 
Unfortunately, for the junior lefty, PLNU could not score either despite a couple chances early. Otto Kemp drove in Point Loma's first runs of the season on a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. It was his first collegiate hit. Micah Pries followed with a solo shot and put PLNU in front 3-0.
 
Montevallo then loaded the bases with no outs in in the eighth inning, but the Sea Lions were able to escape the jam, allowing just a sacrifice fly. Steven Elliott was able to coax the fly ball to left for the first out and Nicholas Cornelius finished off the inning with a fielder's choice and a fly out to right. Balliet recorded a save as he faced the minimum number of batters in the inning.
 
Robert Ortiz III earned the win in relief. Justin Whitley (0-1) took the loss for Montevallo.
 
Micah Pries went 3-for-4 with a home run for the Sea Lions. He was the only player on either team to record a multi-hit game.
 
Game 2: Justin Ledgerwood's solo shot in the bottom of the ninth inning completed a doubleheader sweep for the Sea Lions. With one out and no one on in the ninth, Ledgerwood stepped to the plate and launched the very first pitch he saw high over the center field wall.
 
As he rounded third base and his teammates gathered around the plate, Ledgerwood tossed his helmet in the air and leapt on home plate for his first career walk-off home run and a 5-4 Sea Lions' victory.
 
That win picked up all his teammates as Point Loma had lost a 4-1 lead just three innings before. PLNU scored two in the first and two more in the third to take a 4-1 advantage. Montevallo would capitalize on one of its first big opportunities of the game. A leadoff double and a hit by pitch put two runners on for the cleanup man, Sebastian Samuels, and he did not miss his pitch and launched a game-tying shot over the left-center field wall.
 
The game would remain tied the next two innings until Ledgerwood provided the walk-off magic. He finished the game 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two runs scored. Brett O'Toole, John Balliet and Otto Kemp all had two hits apiece for the Sea Lions.
 
Nathan Garkow (1-0) earned the win in relief. He went the final two innings out of the pen, allowing just a hit and a walk, while striking out two. Jake Posey (0-1) took the loss for Montevallo.

Team Records
Point Loma (2-0, 0-0 PacWest), Montevallo (0-2, 0-0 GSC)
 
Words from the student-athletes

 
Words from coach James
On Zack Noll: "I was not surprised by that. He is so good off the field and on the field. He works his tail off and has a good head on his shoulders. I am really happy for him. He competed and threw a ton of strikes today."
 
On back-to-back home runs in game 1: "We talk all the time about how the score is irrelevant and how we have to grind down their pitchers. Montevallo is a very good team. They are a regional team that is well coached and has a game plan. I told our guys it was not going to be a blow out and that we were going to have to grind them down to get some runs late, and that is what happened."
 
On learning to grind out a win (game 1): "These guys just kept going. They weren't getting down on themselves because we weren't putting runs up. They stayed in their approach and eventually we got to them."
 
On the game 2 win: "The most important thing was Ryan Casper responding (after giving up the game-tying home run) and finishing that inning. He didn't feel sorry for himself and that is what we are trying to build this team around."
 
On Ledgerwood's home run: "I am not surprised by that either. This guy has worked so hard in changing himself, from even a year ago. He is scary strong and great teammate. I couldn't be happier for him."

 
News and Notes
> Balliet is now tied for ninth in PLNU history with nine career saves
> The PLNU career record for saves is 19 (Coleman Huntley III, 2015-16)
> It was the first career walk-off for Ledgerwood
> Pries has now reached base safely in 24 straight games
> Otto Kemp, Brett O'Toole and Michael Palos all recorded their first career hits for the Sea Lions
> PLNU won its first three games of the 2018 season, sweeping another team from Alabama (NAU)
 
Up Next
The two teams will conclude their series with a single nine-inning game on Saturday, Feb. 2. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.