SAN DIEGO - Micah Pries capped off No. 19 Point Loma's doubleheader sweep and series victory over Hawaii Pacific. PLNU won the opening game 8-2 behind seven quality innings from Stirling Strong and a couple of three-run homers. In the series finale, Point Loma came back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh before winning in extra innings on the walk-off home run by Micah Pries.
 
Game 1: Justin Ledgerwood and Colby Kaneshiro each hit early three-run homers to back starter Stirling Strong in an 8-2 victory.
 
Ledgerwood got PLNU on the board with a three-run homer in the first inning to go on top 3-1 after HPU opened the door for the Sea Lions' with a two-out error. Kaneshiro extended the Sea Lions' lead to 6-1 with a two-out, three-run home run in the fourth.
 
Strong took it from there. He held the Sharks scoreless through seven innings. He ran into trouble in the eighth when the first three runners for HPU all singled. Robert Ortiz then came out of the bullpen. He got a fly out from the first batter he faced to right field, and on the play Tanner Tokunaga tried to test John Balliet's arm, he made him pay by throwing him out at home. Ortiz then struck out Christian Kapeliela to end the threat.
 
Strong (4-2) earned the win. He went 7.0 innings allowing nine hits and two runs. He walked none and struck out five.
 
Casey Dunlap reached base safely in all three of his plate appearances. He went 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice. Micah Pries also had a home run and Justin Ledgerwood was 3-for-4. Four different Sea Lions collected two or more hits in the game.
 
Game 2: At this point all PLNU baseball fans know that Micah Pries has a flare of the dramatic. After going 0-for-4 to start the game, Pries stepped to the plate in a tied game in the bottom of the 10th and hit a rocket shot over the right field wall for the 5-4 walk-off win.
 
PLNU was down 4-1 heading into the seventh and final inning of the series finale when it got the break it was looking for all game. Ledgerwood hit a hard shot out to right and the ball hit off the palm of the glove of the outfielder, putting the leadoff runner aboard. The next two batters both singled to load the bases with no outs.
 
The next hitter, Jarrett Lindsay, put the ball in play with a bouncer down to first. HPU's first baseman Christian Kapeliela decided to come home and threw wildly allowing PLNU to score one and keep the bases loaded. After a strike out, Travis Takata singled down the right field line to bring in two runs and tie the game at 4-4.
 
The score would remain that way until the 10th inning thanks to great work out of the bullpen by Nicholas Cornelius (2-0). He went 4.0 innings in relief allowing three hits and no run. He walked just one and struck out three while throwing 54 pitches. Grant Dragmire took the loss for HPU as he was charged with the home run by Pries.
 
Point Loma was outhit in the game 12-8. John Balliet led the Sea Lions by going 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Brett O'Toole added a multi-hit performance. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
PacWest Implications
The two wins moved Point Loma back to within 3.5 games of Azusa Pacific for the top spot in the PacWest standings. With the losses, HPU fell to 7-17 in league play.

Words from the student-athletes

 
Words from coach James
On Nathan Garkow's start: "We always talk how every run matters. It doesn't matter if you are up big or down big, we are trying to limit that extra run at all times because you don't know when that can help you later. Garkow did that. He could have caved and gave up some big innings, but he left some of those as single digits which allowed him to stay in the game longer but also for us to begin to chip away."
 
On the seventh inning comeback: "That is baseball. You have to catch every baseball and when you don't it will come back to hurt you. That is the way it has always been. We just needed something to open up and then there were some big time at-bats after that."
 
On Nicholas Cornelius' performance: "He did a great job pounding the zone. He likes these situations. I kept asking him if he was okay and he kept telling me he wanted to keep going. I am very proud of him because he works really hard and puts in the time so that when his opportunity did present itself he was ready to cash that check."
 
On Pries' walk-off: "We talk all the time about separating our pitches and our at-bats. He was 0-for-4 going into that at-bat. Some people might be down on themselves but you just never know what that next at-bat can bring, so you have to bring a positive mindset into each at-bat and keep grinding it out."
On Hawaii Pacific: "They are a really well-coached and there is no give-up in that team. Every inning their energy was good and they battled with two strikes. Their pitchers battled really well too. I was impressed with them. They are a tough team."
 
On Stirling Strong's start: "Stirling is a very good pitcher. He has gotten better since he stepped onto campus, and he has because a reliable starter for us. He doesn't get shook by a couple of hits and just continues to pound the zone."
 
On the offense in game 1: "Colby and Ledgerwood were fantastic in that game. I also thought Casey Dunlap was excellent today filling in for Miguel Cazares. He went 3-for-5 on the day and played awesome defense."
 
More on the day: "The most important thing about today was zero errors in both games. Defense and pitching allows these offensive guys to get going."
 
News and notes
> Pries now has three walk-off hits in his career, including two walk-off home runs
> PLNU has won its last seven PacWest home series and have not lost a home conference series since 2017
> The four innings was the longest outing of Cornelius career
> Pries is now tied for the PacWest lead with 14 home runs
> Travis Takata is currently on a team-leading, nine-game hitting streak
> Pries has reached base safely in 18 straight games and Kaneshiro in 10 straight
> PLNU is 23-5 when committing one or less errors (12-2 with zero errors)
 
Next games
PLNU will head to Fresno Pacific for a four-game series beginning on Friday, Apr. 19.