OAKLAND, Calif. - The No. 20 ranked Point Loma baseball team split a doubleheader with Holy Names on Saturday, Apr. 6, to earn the series victory. After winning the first two games of the series, PLNU dropped the third game 6-3 after a walk-off home run by Ryan Frakes. The Sea Lions bounced back quickly from the loss to earn a 7-1 win in the series finale behind a complete game effort from Nathan Garkow.
 
Game 1: Alekzander De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a triple, a home run, two RBI and two runs scored but it was not enough for the Sea Lions as they fell 6-3.
 
De La Cruz gave PLNU the initial lead with a two-run homer in the fourth. HNU would add a run each of the next three innings to take a 3-2 lead. De La Cruz would come home with the game-tying run on an RBI-groundout by John Balliet in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3 after he led off the inning with a triple.
 
The Score remained tied at 3-3 until the bottom of the ninth. The Hawks put two runners on with one out before Robbie Ortiz struck out Joshua Nelson for the second out of the inning. However, the inning was not done yet. Frakes took the first pitch he saw and launched it over the outfield wall for the walk-off win.
 
That home run spoiled a good start for PLNU 's Stirling Strong. The junior lefty went six innings, allowing five hits and three runs. He struck out seven and walked two but took the no-decision. Nelson (1-0) earned the win in relief for HNU with a scoreless ninth inning. Ortiz (2-3) was saddled with the loss for Point Loma.
 
Game 2: Point Loma bounced back quickly from their loss behind a strong start from Nathan Garkow. The sophomore right-hander went all seven innings giving up just three hits and one run while walking three and striking out eight in a 7-1 victory.
 
PLNU staked Garkow to a 7-0 lead before the Hawks broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh inning. John Balliet went 3-for-5 with an RBI out of his leadoff spot.  Micah Pries and Jarrett Lindsay each recorded multi-hit games as PLNU outhit HNU in the game 12-3. Colby Kaneshiro added his third home run of the season in the third inning, and Miguel Cazares registered his first homer in a PLNU uniform in the seventh.
 
Team Records
#20 Point Loma (22-11, 10-5 PacWest), Holy Names (12-19, 7-9 PacWest)
 
PacWest implications
With the series win, PLNU is now 2.5 games back of Azusa Pacific (13-3) in the PacWest standings. Holy Names stands sixth at 7-9 in league play.
 
Quotes from coach James
On the end of the game in game 1: "We didn't have a lot of count leverage and their guys were in counts that are good to hit in. I tip my hat to them. They did a good job and they hit balls hard in counts that they should."
 
On Garkow's start: "That is a big situation for Garkow. Doubleheaders are tough and if you lose the first one and have the series on the line, you want to have guys that have the right mentality on the mound. Nathan has that, and he proved it again today. He did a great job getting ahead in the counts and limiting free baserunners. That allowed us to cruise through some innings and give our offense some time to start clicking again."
 
On the continued offensive attack in game 2: "We did a good job overall. De La Cruz was fantastic. He showed up big time. He was hitting balls hard and I am really proud of all the hard work he put in paying off now that he is getting his opportunity."
 
On upcoming series against Hawaii Pacific: "We need to work on being more consistent and grinding pitchers down. We aren't always going to hit good pitching around so we have to do a better job in our approach of battling, especially with two strikes. We did a terrific job defensively all weekend as well, but we will continue to work on that too."
 
Up Next
No. 20 Point Loma will return home to host Hawaii Pacific in a four-game series. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 13 and another on Monday, Apr. 15.