(SAN DIEGO)
Jakob Christian extended his home run streak to a PLNU Baseball NCAA era record six games, helping fourth-ranked Point Loma to a doubleheader split with No. 19 Cal State San Bernardino on Friday.
The Sea Lions gave the Yotes their first loss of the season, 7-3, before CSUSB bounced back to win game two, 4-3.
After hitting five home runs in four games last week on his way to earning PacWest and NCBWA West Region Player of the Week honors, Christian went yard in both games on Friday for his seventh and eighth jacks of the season, which leads NCAA Division II.
The sophomore first baseman hit two of PLNU's three home runs on the day, with the first coming from
Jack Malone in game one to give the Sea Lions a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
Bryson Hashimoto's infield single then scored another later in the inning to double PLNU's advantage.
Point Loma (8-2 overall) added two more runs in the fourth, with
Jake Entrekin scoring on a wild pitch and
Scott Anderson plating another with a sacrifice fly.
Christian's first homer of the day came in the bottom of the fifth, sparking a three-run inning that was capped off by Entrekin's RBI-double to right center and a
David Garcia sacrifice fly.
PLNU's seven runs were more than enough for starter
Dylan Miller, who hurled seven shutout innings and struck out seven to earn the win.
CSUSB scored three runs over the final two innings and carried that momentum into the second game, hitting a pair of early homers to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
Malone responded with his second long shot of the day in the bottom half to get Point Loma to within one, setting up the stage for Christian to go yard for a second time himself.
Christian's two-run jack in the bottom of the fourth gave PLNU its first lead of game two, which the Sea Lions held until the top of the sixth when the Yotes scored twice, on a wild pitch and an RBI-single, to retake their advantage.
CSUSB (8-1 overall) then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to even the three-game set.
The two teams will square off again on Saturday, this time in San Bernardino, to determine the series winner. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
