SAN DIEGO - No. 14 Point Loma and Concordia split a PacWest-doubleheader on Friday, Mar. 22, at Carroll B. Land Stadium. PLNU won the opener 6-2, and Concordia took the late game, 10-9, in extra innings.
 
Game 1: Zack Noll pitched out of multiple jams, and the Sea Lions rallied for four runs in the seventh to win game 1 of the series, 6-2.
 
The game was tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning when Concordia loaded the bases with no outs against Noll. He was able to strike the next two batters out before getting a harmless groundball to first to end the inning.
 
Being able to get out of that jam brought all the momentum into the Sea Lions' dugout, and it paid off immediately. Justin Ledgerwood led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to left field on an 0-2 count. PLNU did not settle for one run. After Michael Palos and Miguel Cazares, each reached base, Kyle Gracey drove both in with a two-RBI single, before scoring later in the inning on a two-out RBI by Micah Pries to extend the Sea Lions' lead to 6-2.
 
Elliott would finish out the game by holding the Eagles scoreless over the final two frames. Noll (6-0) earned the win after going seven innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out four. Brett Vansant (3-3) took the loss after being charged with six hits and six runs over 6.1 innings.
 
Game 2: Point Loma rallied from an 8-1 deficit with an eight-run seventh inning, before falling in extra innings to Concordia, 10-9.
 
The Eagles scored in five of the first seven innings to build an 8-1 lead and set the stage for the PLNU comeback. The Sea Lions loaded the bases with no outs before bringing in runs on a bases-loaded walk by Cazares and an infield single by Gracey to cut the deficit to five (8-3). John Balliet brought in another run on a sacrifice fly before Micah Pries launched a three-run homer (8-7). The Sea Lions were still not done there. The next batter Brett O'Toole singled and scored on the double by Travis Takata to knot the score at 8-8. Ledgerwood would plate Takata three pitches later on his second hit of the inning to give Point Loma the 9-8 advantage.
 
PLNU would not hold that lead long as Concordia had three straight hits with one out to tie the game back up at 9-9.
 
The score would remain tied into the 10th inning. Nick Grimes led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He would come into score the eventual game-winning run on a single by Jair Donovan.
 
Morgan Brannock (2-0) earned the win out of the bullpen with two scoreless innings of work. John Balliet (0-2) took the loss for PLNU.
 
Travis Takata's three-hit performance led four Sea Lions with multi-hit games. Matt Lautz and Nick Grimes each had three hits for the Eagles, which outhit PLNU 18-14.

Team Records
#14 Point Loma (18-9, 6-3 PacWest), Concordia (11-14, 6-4 PacWest)
 
Words from coach James
On Zack Noll working out of jams: "That would have been easy for him to cave during that seventh inning with no outs and the bases loaded, but you hope your upperclassmen pitchers can get out of those situations. We always talk how every run matters, and that we need to think small and keep limiting the damage as much as we can. He did that, and it was a humungous momentum shift for our offense. Without that, we lose."
 
On the Sea Lions' defense in game 1: "Good pitching and defense will always put you in a position to win."
 
On the seventh inning of game 2: "The lesson to be learned there is that hopefully, we have that heart in every inning, not just in ones where rallies need to happen. They are continuing to learn the value of every pitch in a game, regardless of the score. Baseball is a crazy game, and it can get tight late, so you have to do your job on each pitch because you never know if that is going to be the most important pitch of the game."
  
Up Next
Point Loma will play Concordia in another doubleheader on Mar. 23 in Irvine, Calif., to close out the season series. The game will begin at Noon.