SAN DIEGO - No. 14 Point Loma and Concordia split another doubleheader on Saturday, resulting in a series split for the two PacWest Conference foes.
 
Game 1: Stirling Strong and Ryan Casper combined on the shutout, and the Sea Lions put 12 runs on the board in a 12-0 victory over the Eagles.
 
Strong (3-2) went six solid innings, allowing six hits and no runs while walking two and striking out two. He got 10 of his 18 outs via the ground ball. He gave way to Ryan Casper in the seventh. Casper put up three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two to preserve the shutout.
 
The Sea Lions offense staked them to a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by John Balliet. They added two more in the fifth when Miguel Cazares singled in a run and scored on an error. PLNU broke the game open with a six-run sixth, capped off by a bases-loaded single from Brett O'Toole. They added three more insurance runs in the seventh on a home run by Casey Dunlap and a two-run single by Balliet.
 
Balliet finished the game 1-for-2 with two walks and four RBI. Ledgerwood homered for the second straight day. Dunlap scored three times and went 2-for-4 with a home run. Cazares added a career-high three hits.
 
Game 2: The Eagles flipped the script on the Sea Lions in the series finale to earn the 7-1 win.
 
Concordia took the lead with a sacrifice fly in the first inning before extending their lead with a four-run fourth inning. The Eagles added two more in the fifth on a single by Cooper Moore.
 
Alekzander De La Cruz broke up the shutout with a solo home run in the seventh.
 
Ren Martin (1-0) earned the win after he came into the game and was able to pitch the Eagles out of trouble in the fourth after Balliet and Pries each singled with one out. He went 3.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one earned run and two hits. Nathan Garkow (3-2) was charged with the loss.

Team Records
#14 Point Loma (19-10, 7-4 PacWest), Concordia (12-15, 7-5 PacWest)
 
Quotes from coach James
On Strong's start: "Stirling was simply outstanding today. We needed a big start from him to take some pressure off our bullpen, and he did that in a big way. He made a couple of mistakes up in the zone early, but quickly made adjustments and didn't let up from there. I was very happy with his performance."
 
On the six-run sixth inning: "We try to preach as an offense to continue to extend leads and get it to the next guy. There were tons of quality at-bats up and down the lineup in that inning. A lot of guys have credit in that. They had good approaches and swung at good pitches."
 
On the shutout: "As a staff we preach that there are a lot of little things that add up to results. That is pounding the zone early in the count and executing one pitch at a time. That usually leads to good things. We take pride in the chance to shut someone out."
 
On Casper's appearance: "It was great to see Ryan Casper pitch today. He has been working his tail off behind the scenes waiting for his opportunity. For him to throw three innings today was a big boost to him and the team."
 
On Concordia: "They are well-coached, they don't give away at-bats and they put a lot of balls in play. If you aren't sharp, they will expose you, and they did a great job of that all weekend. They have good players and they made us pay whenever we made a mistake up in the zone."  
 
News & Notes
> This was the first time all season PLNU has split a series
> PLNU is now 6-1-1 in series this season
> Strong has allowed just three runs over this last 19 innings
> Point Loma is 2-6 this season when committing two or more errors
  
Up Next
Point Loma will be off next weekend before resuming conference play on Apr. 5-6 at Academy of Art. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at Noon.