SAN DIEGO - No. 19 Point Loma and Hawaii Pacific split a doubleheader to open their four-game PacWest series. Micah Pries had home runs in each of the first two innings, and Point Loma jumped on the Sharks early to win the opener 9-4 behind Zack Noll. In game 2, HPU got a strong start from Tyler Van Stone and rode that to an 8-5 win.
 
Game 1: Micah Pries hit two home runs in the first two innings, and Zack Noll dealt once again to deliver PLNU a 9-4 win in the opener.
 
Pries first hit was a two-run homer as the first three batters of the game all had hits for the Sea Lions. He came up again in the second inning with two on and two out, and on the very first pitch, he saw he lined it over the right-center field wall for his second home run of the game and 12th of the season. That home run also gave Noll a 6-0 lead.
 
Noll cruised through the first three innings and before running into a little trouble in the fourth. After a leadoff walk, one of the top hitters in the PacWest, Christian Kapeliela, stepped to the plate. He worked a 3-1 count before lifting a pitch over the wall for the Sharks' first runs of the game. HPU would threaten again in the fifth, but Noll was able to work out of the two on and no one out the situation by yielding just one run to keep PLNU in front 6-3.
 
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the eighth in part to a great relief effort from Joshua Savea. He took over for Evan Spitzer in the third and worked his out of a bases-loaded situation. He would go on to pitch four more scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out seven.
 
PLNU would finally break through against Savea with three insurance runs in the eighth. Michael Palos had a run-scoring double, and Travis Takata knocked in two more with an opposite-field double.
 
Zack Noll improved to 8-0 in the outing. He went six innings allowing five hits and three runs while walking two and striking out eight. Spitzer took the loss for HPU after being charged with nine hits and six runs in 2.1 innings.
 
The top three spots in the lineup powered the Sea Lions offense throughout the game. Takata, Kaneshiro, and Pries combined to go 6-for-14 with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and six runs scored. Brett O'Toole reached base in all four of his plate appearances with three hits and a walk. Miguel Cazares also posted a multi-hit game.
 
Game 2: Tyler Van Stone went 6.1 innings allowing Hawaii Pacific to build a 6-2 lead, before hanging on for the 8-5 win.
 
HPU took the early 2-0 lead before PLNU tied it with single runs in the first and the second innings. The Sharks retook the lead with a run in the fourth before breaking out with three runs in the fifth to go up 6-3.
 
PLNU would get one back in the fifth on an RBI-single by Pries. The Sea Lions would rally again in the seventh. They cut the lead to 6-4 on Travis Takata's one-out, RBI double. After a strikeout, an intentional walk to Pries loaded the bases for Alekzander De La Cruz. He was hit on the very first pitch he saw to cut the lead to one (6-5). Justin Ledgerwood battled in the ensuing at-bat, facing nine pitches before eventually going down on a strikeout.  
 
Those runs got the momentum into the Sea Lions' dugout as the memory of their numerous comebacks started to resurface. However, neither team scored in the eighth, and HPU was able to push across two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to take the momentum out of the Sea Lions' sails.
 
Van Stone (3-0) earned the victory for HPU. He went 6.1 innings allowing six hits and five runs. He walked four and struck out five. Christian Miller, who came into the game after PLNU scored in the seventh, went the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one walk, to earn his first save of the season. Jerry Quemada (4-1) took his first loss in a Sea Lions' uniform.
 
PLNU was outhit in the game 16-6. Only Travis Takata (2-for-4, two RBI) had a multi-hit performance. Dylan Kurahasi, Jordan Mopas, and Christian Kapeliela each had three hits to pace the Sharks.
 
PacWest Implications
The doubleheader split, combined with APU sweeping a four-game series from Concordia over the weekend, pushed PLNU 4.5 games behind the Cougars for the top spot in the PacWest standings.
 
Words from coach James
On getting the early runs in game 1: "That was huge. We always talk about starting early. You just hope you have quality at-bats after the fact and keep putting pressure on the other team. You hope to get deep into their bullpen, especially in game 1. That can really reap benefits later in the series."
 
On Noll's start and confidence of PLNU with him on the mound: "Good pitcher win. He competes even when he doesn't have his best stuff. Good pitchers know how to get out of those situations, and he's done it for us numerous times this year. He has the will to want to win no matter how it is going. He is a true competitor."
 
Lessons learned from game 2: "We can't lose the two-strike battle on the mound and offensively. You also can't lose on defense and on the mound. If you do that and lose the game, you shouldn't be too surprised about the outcome. That's it. It's pretty simple."
 
On Hawaii Pacific: "They had 16 hits, and they didn't kick the ball around. We also didn't put as many balls into play as we should have and they did a good job taking care of the routine play, and we didn't"
 
News and notes
> PLNU is 10-0 in Noll's starts
> Noll has earned a win in eight straight starts
> Pries has multi-home run games in each of the last two series
> The 12 home runs are a career-high for Pries, eclipsing the 11 he hit in 2018
> O'Toole reached his first eight plate appearances in the doubleheader
> Hawaii Pacific's bullpen combined to go 8.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs, while striking out 12 in the two games combined
> PLNU is 2-7 when committing two or more errors in a game
 
Next games
The teams will pick their series back up with another doubleheader on Monday, March 15 at Noon.