SAN DIEGO - With their backs against the wall and their postseason hopes on the line, the Point Loma baseball team rallied for two comeback wins against No. 9 nationally ranked Azusa Pacific.
 
In the opener, PLNU fell behind 4-0 before chipping aways to earn a 5-4 win. In the series finale, the Sea Lions were without a hit until the fifth inning, before getting an opposite field from Colby Kaneshiro to tie the game and set up Travis Takata for the walk-off 2-1 win.
 
Game 1: Michael Palos went 4-for-4 and drove in the game-winning run on a double in the seventh inning to help PLNU overcome a 4-0 deficit and earn a 5-4 victory.
 
APU took the early lead with two solo home runs to straight-away center field in the first inning and added two more runs on in the third inning to go up 4-0. In the bottom of the third, PLNU answered right back with a pair of runs from sacrifice flies by Miguel Cazares and Brett O'Toole. PLNU would add one more run in the sixth on an RBI-groundout by Takata to score Casey Dunlap and cut the deficit to 4-3.
 
In the seventh, APU gifted PLNU with a walk and an error to put two runners on to start the inning. However, after two fielder's choices, the Cougars looked like they might escape the inning. That is when a pair of seniors, Casey Dunlap and Michael Palos, came through with back-to-back two-out hits. Dunlap's was a single over the outstretched arms of a leaping shortstop to tie the game at 4-4. On the very next pitch, Palos doubled to left-center field to bring home Balliet for the eventual winning run.
 
The comeback would not have been possible without outstanding work by the Sea Lions' bullpen. Josh Richter and Steven Elliott combined to throw four scoreless innings out of the pen. Richter went 1.1 innings allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one. Elliott (2-1) went the final 2.2 innings. He struck out four and allowed just two hits to earn the victory.
 
PLNU outhit APU in the game 10-7. Palos led the way with his 4-for-4 effort. Takata also added a multi-hit performance.
 
Game 2: This was a win defined by grit. On the mound, in the batter's box and the field, Point Loma battled through every pitch and every threat to earn the 2-1 walk-off win.
 
Zack Noll (9-2) threw his first complete game of the season to keep the Sea Lions in the contest and set up the late-game heroics. He went seven innings allowing five hits, one run, and four walks while striking out five. The only blemish off Noll came in the third when APU took the lead on a two-out, RBI-single by Osvaldo Tovalin.
 
It looked like that might be enough for Cougars' starter Declan Kearney, who held PLNU hitless through the first four innings.
 
It was Colby Kaneshiro that finally came through with the first hit, and the senior did it in a way that many fans will never forget. On an 0-1 pitch in the bottom of the fifth, Kaneshiro barreled up the ball and drove an opposite-field shot into the scoreboard in right-centerfield to tie the game at 1-1 as the crowd, and his teammates went crazy.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, APU would threaten in the top of the seventh. Will Stroud led off the inning with a double off the wall, before being picked off second to distinguish the threat.
 
In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Kaneshiro walked, and John Balliet singled to right. After a fly out to center field took the Sea Lions down to their final out, Palos worked a walk to load the bases and bring Takata to the plate. He just missed the first pitch, fouling it off to the backstop, before lining the next pitch into the left-centerfield gap to bring in pinch-runner Nico Anderson for the game-winning run.
 
PLNU finished the game with four hits, and APU with five. No player off either team posted a multi-hit game.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (30-19, 18-13 PacWest), Azusa Pacific (36-11, 26-6 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The wins secure third place for Point Loma in the final 2019 PacWest Conference standings. Azusa Pacific won the regular season title by five games over second-place Hawaii Hilo.

Words from the student-athletes
 

Words from coach James
On the importance of the wins: "We have been in a lot of close games this year, and there was no quit in our guys. There were some big-time performances on the mound to give our offense a chance to get some baserunners on and make some things happen. They put in a position for the chance to win a couple of baseball games, and we came up with a couple of big hits."
 
On bullpen's performances in game 1: "At some point when you are losing you have to stop giving up runs and give your offense some time to chip away and make some things happen. Steven Elliott allowed us to do that. Josh Richter also came in and was excellent. He grew up a lot in his two appearances in this series."
On the wins on Senior Day: "It doesn't matter what year they are; these guys like to play for each other. It is a special day whenever you can get these kind of wins. You never know how senior day will go with all the emotions, but these guys were trying to make sure it wasn't going to be their last games of the year."
 
On Zack Noll's start: "Zack was outstanding pitching in game 4. It is not his typical game to pitch, but he put in the prep work during the week and showed today. There were a couple of moments he could have caved, but he doesn't have that mentality on the mound, and he made some big-time pitches in some big-time situations. That is what big-time pitchers do."
 
On Kaneshiro's home run: "He had a good approach in that at-bat. However, as important as that swing was, his defense was outstanding. He made a few really big plays for us defensively, and when you can get combo that up with that big hit, that is what special players do."
 
On the seventh-inning rally: "You just need baserunners, to keep winning pitches and make them throw you a strike. We harp on that over and over again. In that inning, we did a really good job of it. Travis had a slow heartbeat in that at-bat and got a good pitch to hit. He took a deep breath, and he hit that ball well."
 
News and notes
> Point Loma has won at least 30 games in each season it has been in NCAA Division II (2014-15)
> The seniors now have a four-year record of 128-70 (.646 winning %)
> APU was 25-2 since March 9 before losing both games today
> PLNU remained at No. 3 in the NCAA West Region rankings when the poll was released earlier today
 
Next games
PLNU will now await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 12 to see their seed and where they will travel for the NCAA West Regional. The selection show will be aired at 7 p.m. on NCAA.com.