AZUSA, Calif. - In a critical non-conference series, the No. 20 ranked Point Loma baseball made a statement by not only taking three of four games from No. 14 ranked Azusa Pacific, but by holding the Cougars to just seven runs over 34 innings. PLNU completed the series win with a 4-3 victory in the opener on Saturday, before falling in the late game, 2-1.
 
Game 1: Travis Takata singled in Casey Dunlap in the top of the 11th to lift Point Loma to a 4-3 win.
 
The victory the Sea Lions' third straight over the Cougars and was also a sense of relief after losing a late lead, following a great starting performance from Stirling Strong.
 
PLNU built a three-run lead on a two-run homer by John Balliet in the fourth and an RBI-single by Dunlap in the sixth. APU got one run back in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh before Cole Kleszcz homered with one out in the ninth to tie the game at 3-3 and give Strong a no-decision.
 
The junior lefty completed his day with seven strong innings. He allowed seven hits, two runs, and no walk. He struck out two.
 
In extra innings, APU had a chance to score in the bottom of the 10th, when Justin Gomez tried to score from second base with two out on a single by Austin Russ, but John Balliet came up firing and gunned down the would-be winning run at home.
 
In the top of the 11th, Casey Dunlap reached on a two-strike hit before being sacrificed to second. Kyle Gracey came through with a hit as the next batter, but PLNU held Dunlap at third. Takata followed with a single up the middle to plate Dunlap as the eventual winning-run.
 
Nicholas Cornelius (1-0) earned the win out of the bullpen. He allowed three hits and just one run over a season-high three innings. Robert Ortiz III earned his second save in as many days with a perfect bottom of the 11th.
 
Game 2: Nathan Garkow went six innings, allowing five hits and just two runs while walking two and striking out five to give Point Loma a chance to sweep the non-conference series, but the Sea Lions could not come up with the critical hit in this game, and they fell 2-1.
 
Garkow was dealing early in this seven-inning game. He kept APU scoreless for the first four innings, with just two Cougars even reaching base. They finally found a chink in his armor in the fifth inning when Mychael Goudreau poked the ball over the left field wall for a solo home run and the 1-0 lead.
 
Micah Pries would answer for Point Loma in the sixth inning with a two-out home run to tie the game back up (1-1).
 
In the bottom of the inning, Osvaldo Tovalin led off with a single and went to third on a double after an intentional walk loaded the bases, Joe Quire Jr. able to get enough of the barrel on the ball on an 0-2 count to lift it to the outfield for the go-ahead sacrifice fly.
 
This was the first loss of the season Nathan Garkow (3-1). Declan Kearney (1-0) earned the win for APU after throwing a complete game and allowing eight hits and just one run.

Team Records
#20 Point Loma (14-7), #14 Azusa Pacific (12-9)
 
Words from coach James
On pitching confidently against Azusa Pacific: "We preach confidence and these guys were just awesome this weekend. They were absolutely filling up the zone all weekend."
 
On Strong's start: "Stirling was outstanding. He has been getting better every start. He is a strike thrower and keeps hitters off balance. Him going seven innings today really saved our bullpen, especially in that yard. I am very proud of him."
 
On the run in extra innings: "It took a big at-bat by Casey to set up that inning. He stayed with his approach and hit the ball hard. Takata has been giving us some veteran at-bats, and he has a slow heart rate in those situations. He did his job and hit a ball hard up the middle."
 
On Garkow's start: "He was outstanding once again. He was pounding the zone and keeping them off-balanced with off-speed stuff while locating his fastball well. He limited baserunners. That is two starts in a row that he has been special."
 
On the Sea Lions: "I thought the guys' energy and the way they never gave up in any game and kept trying to extend the lead, was very promising against a playoff-quality baseball team."
 
News and Notes
> The second game of the doubleheader was the first game all season that PLNU lost in which it did not commit an error
> The Sea Lions allowed just three walks while striking out 30 batters in the series (34 innings)
> Robert Ortiz III never had a career save, and now he has ones in back-to-back games
  
Up Next
Point Loma and Biola will play a PacWest conference series next weekend at Carroll B. Land Stadium. The teams will play doubleheaders on Friday and Sunday. First pitches for both days are scheduled for Noon.