(SEASIDE, Calif.) No. 21 PLNU Baseball earned a split with No. 14 Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday, bouncing back from a 13-8 loss in the afternoon to win the nightcap 6-1.
Eric Smelko hit a two-run homer in the top of the first of game one before CSUMB scored 10 unanswered runs to take a commanding lead.
From there, the Sea Lions outscored the Otters 12-4 over the remaining 13 innings.
Point Loma made it interesting in game one, scoring six runs total in innings four through six, getting to within three after a three-run top of the sixth.
Smelko tripled,
Scott Anderson singled and
Bryson Hashimoto doubled to score runs, making it an 11-8 ballgame in favor of the hosts.
However, CSUMB added a pair in the bottom of the seventh and held PLNU scoreless the rest of the way to even the series after Point Loma won the opening game on Thursday night.
The Otters then struck first in the second game with a run in the bottom of the second before the Sea Lions answered in the top of the fourth.
Jack Malone led off the inning with a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error.
Hunter Otjen then tied the game with an RBI-groundout.
Point Loma took its first lead of the game in the top of the sixth, with Otjen once again coming through, this time with a single to score Anderson.
PLNU then turned a one-run lead into a five-run cushion, adding four insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with back-to-back two-RBI singles from Malone and Otjen putting PLNU ahead 6-1.
Austyn Coleman earned the win on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up just the one run.
Kaden Lewis and
Christian Williams combined to pitch a scoreless sixth before
James Sashin sealed the victory with a flawless seventh.
Point Loma (3-2 overall) leads the series 2-1 with the finale set for Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
