(IRVINE, Calif.) As it battles for positioning within the PacWest standings, No. 25 PLNU Baseball picked up a pair of important wins on Friday at Concordia, winning the first game 5-3 before its offense erupted in a 20-5 victory in game two.
In the first game, Point Loma overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit, with two of those runs being earned.
From there, starter
Dylan Miller pitched the next six innings scoreless, allowing the PLNU offense time to get on the board.
In the fourth,
Connor Hill singled to right, with
Tommy Burleson and
Owen May scoring on an error by the right fielder to get the Sea Lions to within one.
David Garcia then gave Point Loma its first lead of the game with his two-RBI double down the left field line in the fifth.
Then in the sixth,
Jakob Christian doubled PLNU's advantage with a homer to right center, his 18th longball of the season, which was more than enough insurance for closer
Cole Hillier who shut the door with a two-inning save.
In game two, PLNU opened the scoring with a May sacrifice fly in the second.
Jack Malone's three-run blast with two outs in the third then gave the visitors a commanding 4-0 lead.
However, the Golden Eagles fought back with a five-spot in the bottom half to take their first lead of the game.
But that didn't last long, as Point Loma scored three runs in the fourth, three in the fifth, four in the sixth and six in the seventh of the seven-inning game.
PLNU's advantage was quickly restored on
Scott Anderson's moonshot to deep left field in the top of the fourth, which scored three.
Then in the fifth, a perfectly-executed bunt from Burleson pulled the CUI pitcher off the mound toward the third base line and forced an errant throw over the first baseman's head, which allowed Garcia to score and put runners on second and third with nobody out.
May then scored both of those runners with his double to left center to put PLNU into double digit runs for the game.
In the sixth, sacrifice flies from Malone and Anderson bookended RBI-singles from Burleson and
Seth Ryberg.
But the Sea Lions weren't done there, putting up a six-spot in the top of the seventh to reach the 20-run threshold for the second time this season.
Garcia and Malone started the scoring with RBI-singles before Burleson scored two with a double.
PLNU added another on a groundout into a double play before
Jeffrey Barber got in on the action with an RBI-single to round out the scoring.
Point Loma (23-11, 11-7 PacWest) concludes its four-game series with Concordia on Saturday with a doubleheader at Carroll B. Land Stadium beginning at noon.
