(AZUSA, Calif.)
Eric Smelko and
Jack Malone homered for top-seeded PLNU Baseball in the opening game of the PacWest Championships on Wednesday, but fourth-seeded Azusa Pacific scored two late runs to defeat the Sea Lions, 6-5.
After APU took a first-inning lead, PLNU wasted no time in answering back, as Smelko led off the bottom half with a no-doubter over the right field fence to tie the game.
The Cougars then scored once in the second and twice in the third, capitalizing on an error to go up by three.
The Sea Lions responded with a four-run fourth to take their first lead of the game.
Malone tied it up with a three-run shot to right center before Smelko scored
Joey Nicolai with an RBI-single down the right field line.
Starting pitcher
Dylan Miller left the game after six innings in line for the win, having allowed four runs (three earned).
APU scored an unearned run in the seventh to tie the game before retaking the lead with another run in the eighth on a groundout to shortstop.
Scott Anderson then nearly tied it up to lead off the eighth, doubling off the very top of the fence in left center. He then moved 90 feet from home on
Jake Entrekin's flyout to right but was stranded there.
James Sashin kept it a one-run game by shutting out the tournament hosts in the ninth.
Then with one out in the bottom half, pinch-hitter
Owen May singled up the middle to try and spark a rally, but the Cougars retired the final two Sea Lions to bat, sending the top seed to the loser's bracket.
Point Loma (36-10-1 overall) will now have to win four-straight to win the PacWest Championships, starting with an 11 a.m. tournament elimination game on Thursday against second-seeded Hawai'i Pacific.
The winner between PLNU and HPU will advance to play a second elimination game on Thursday at 7 p.m. against the loser of third-seeded Concordia and fourth-seeded Azusa Pacific.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
