Point Loma hands Hounds loss in series opener

Staff report

SAN DIEGO — Senior first baseman Devin Carter hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth on Thursday and Point Loma Nazarene University went on to an 11-6 victory over Eastern New Mexico University in the opener of a four-game series.

The Greyhounds (5-2) had tied it 4-4 in the top of the inning on junior third baseman Daniel Ward’s fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot off Sea Lions lefthander Eric Pierce (2-0). First baseman Ryan Garcia led off the Point Loma sixth with a single and Carter followed with his first homer of the season to left field off ENMU reliever Jared Gay (0-1).

The scoring took off after Ward’s homer. The Sea Lions (5-3) built an 8-4 lead before the Hounds closed the gap in the eighth on run-scoring singles by Dylan Nault and Issak Bustamante, but Point Loma added three more in the bottom half to put it out of reach.

Point Loma finished with a 16-10 advantage in hits. Junior first baseman Ryan Garcia led the way with a 5-for-6 outing, including his fourth home run of the season in the seventh leading off.

Ward went 3-for-4 for the Hounds, adding an RBI single in the fourth, while Nault finished 3-for-4 and right fielder Justin Paul was 2-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored.

In addition to their 16 hits off six ENMU pitchers, the Sea Lions also benefited from nine walks and three errors. They stranded 15 baserunners in the game.

The teams meet in a 2 p.m. (MST) single game today, then play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. (MST).