(NAMPA, Idaho) Two big innings for No. 5 seed Montana State Billings proved to be the downfall for No. 4 seed Point Loma in the NCAA West Regional on Thursday afternoon, as the Yellowjackets defeated the Sea Lions 15-7 to put PLNU on the brink of elimination.
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Point Loma will now play top seed Northwest Nazarene at 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT on Thursday, with a loss ending PLNU's season and a win keeping the Sea Lions' postseason hopes alive.
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PLNU got off to a great start against MSUB, taking the lead in the bottom of the third on
Luke Reece's RBI-single.
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Point Loma then added two more runs with two outs in the fourth, courtesy of
Tommy Molina's RBI-double to right center and
Aiden Arriaga's base hit through the right side.
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Starting pitcher
Brock Mayer was cruising through four innings, but the Yellowjackets put together the first of their two seven-run innings to snatch the lead in the fifth, with five of those runs being unearned.
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Three singles in the sixth loaded the bases for the Sea Lions, only for Billings to get out of the jam and maintain its four-run lead.
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Noah Meffert, who was a triple short of the cycle in the game, then cut PLNU's deficit in half with a two-run shot to left in the seventh, only for MSUB to answer back with another seven-run inning in the eighth.
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Point Loma (37-17 overall) scored two more in the bottom half on
Josiah Rodriguez's two-out, two-RBI single to right, before Montana State Billings (33-20) tacked on one more in the ninth.
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PLNU, the defending West Regional champions, will now take on the No. 1 seed in the region NNU in hopes of continuing its season.
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The Sea Lions are 17-2 all-time against the host Nighthawks, but Northwest Nazarene (40-13), the GNAC regular season and tournament champions, has won two of the last three games between the two teams.
