(SAN DIEGO) No. 14 PLNU Baseball and No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay split an Opening Day doubleheader in Carroll B. Land Stadium on Friday.
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CSUMB won game one, 8-3, before Point Loma responded in game two with a shutout 4-0 victory, setting up Saturday's series finale.
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Vaughn Neckar threw 5.2 shutout innings in his first collegiate start to earn the win for the Sea Lions, as PLNU scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the first.
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Tristan Moore launched a two-run shot to right to open the scoring, before Point Loma tacked on two more.
Tyler Stull's sacrifice bunt made it 3-0 before
Ben Finnegan intentionally got caught in a rundown which allowed
Hank Smith to score from third and round out the scoring.
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Smith then came in from right field to close out the game on the mound, pitching 1.1 scoreless to preserve the shutout, PLNU's first on Opening Day since Jan. 21, 2006 against Bethany College.
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In game one, CSUMB scored three unearned runs in the first inning to take an immediate lead, before Point Loma chipped away with three unanswered of its own.
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Owen May came up clutch with a two-out, two-RBI single in the bottom of the second to cut PLNU's deficit to one, setting the stage for
Jake Schwartz to tie it up with a long ball to right field in the fourth.
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However, the Otters held the Sea Lions scoreless the rest of the way and scored five runs in the top of the seventh to win game one 8-3.
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PLNU starter
Derek Silva pitched five innings in his Sea Lions debut without allowing an earned run.
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First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 11 a.m.