(LA MIRADA, Calif.) PLNU Baseball was down to its final two outs, trailing by two in the first game of Saturday's non-conference doubleheader at Biola.
 
Then with just one swing of the bat, J.J. Gerarden flipped the script with his bases-clearing double, knocking in the game-winning run in Point Loma's 13-11 win which earned the Sea Lions a split on the day.
 
PLNU hit five home runs in the first game, with Jake Entrekin's two-run homer in the top of the first giving the visitors an early lead.
 
Derek Lukes and Jack Malone then hit two-run shots themselves, before Jakob Christian went yard for a second time in the game to give Point Loma a 9-8 advantage in the seventh.
 
Christian's 14th jack of the season extended his NCAA lead in the category and moved him into sole possession of seventh place all-time in program history, not even halfway through his sophomore season.
 
Biola responded with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and one more in the eighth to take a two-run lead into the top of the ninth.
 
Bryson Hashimoto led off the final inning with a single up the middle. After the Eagles got an out, Malone was hit by a pitch and Seth Ryberg singled to left to load the bases, prompting a Biola pitching change.
 
Gerarden, who had just entered the game a half-inning earlier as a defensive replacement, smacked a double to right which flipped PLNU's two-run deficit into a one-run lead.
 

Down by 2 in the 9th? No problem.

J.J. Gerarden knocks in the game-winning run with a bases-clearing double in @PLNUBaseball's 13-11 win over Biola.

🎥 @BiolaAthletics pic.twitter.com/fBicHNGIXY

— PLNU Sea Lions (@PLNUSeaLions) March 18, 2023

 
Then with some heads-up baserunning, the sophomore infielder scored from second on a wild pitch to add to the Sea Lions' lead.
 
That two-run cushion was more than enough for Cole Hillier, who came on to record his fourth save of the season.
 
The second game of the doubleheader went down to the final inning as well, except this time the Sea Lions weren't so fortunate.
 
Biola jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Scott Anderson's three-run dinger and an RBI-single from Jake Entrekin put Point Loma ahead, 4-3, in the top of the third.
 
The Eagles answered right back with three more runs in the bottom half, only for Connor Hill's double and Hunter Otjen's single in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 6 apiece.
 
But Biola had the last laugh, walking it off in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded hit by pitch to win 7-6.
 
Point Loma (14-8 overall) will return to Carroll B. Land Stadium on Monday to finish off its four-game series with Biola. First pitch is scheduled for noon.