box score

San Diego, CA (4/19) – The Sea Lions scored 11 runs in the sixth inning of a 16-5 Golden State Athletic Conference win over San Diego Christian Thursday afternoon at Carroll B. Land Stadium. NAIA No. 16 Point Loma Nazarene upped their season mark to 27-12 overall and are in second-place with a 21-9 conference mark.

PLNU has just six GSAC games left in the season. On Saturday the team travels to first-place and NAIA second-ranked Azusa Pacific for a doubleheader that starts at noon. The Sea Lions and Cougars split their two head-to-head games earlier this year.

The Sea Lions, although playing in their home park, were the “visitors” Thursday. PLNU came out of the gate fast, scoring a pair of first-inning runs. Kaohi Downing led the game off with a single, advanced to second on a Hawk error and then came home on a single from Alex Cameron. Red-hot Andy Reilly later plated Cameron with a two-out single.

Not much happened until the bottom of the fourth when SDCC finally got to Sea Lion starter Tony Kirbis. Kenoli Fonseca tripled and scored the Hawk’s first run when Garrett Lingle singled.

Up 2-1, the Sea Lions sent 15 batters to the plate in an 11-run sixth inning. PLNU banged out nine hits in the frame. Some of the inning highlights included Cameron’s two-run single, Jesse Gill’s three-run homer and a two-run single from Kevin Campbell.

Point Loma wasn’t finished, however, scoring three more runs in the ninth. The Hawks (16-20, 12-18) plated four runs in the bottom of the inning for the 16-5 final.

The Sea Lions rapped out 19 hits in the win. Downing was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Campbell had three hits and three RBI. Cameron collected two hits and three RBI with Gill adding a pair of hits and four RBI. Reilly, Mike Reynolds and Travis Wiley each added two hits.

Aaron Vasquez went 3-for-5 to lead the Hawks.

Kirbis improved to 8-1 after tossing six innings of four-hit ball. Shane Kochon threw a pair of scoreless frames of relief. Kevin Craik pitched the ninth, surrendering four Hawk runs.