SAN DIEGO – The Dixie State baseball team swept Point Loma (Calif.) in its second day of doubleheaders Saturday. The victories secured DSU the Pac West Conference season championship as the Storm are up five games on Azusa Pacific with only a four-game series against Fresno Pacific remaining on the schedule.
The 6-4 and 4-3 wins give Dixie State a 32-14 record on the season, especially impressive since the Red Storm started the year 0-7. DSU is 23-5 in the PWC (standings).
Unlike Friday’s games, it was the Sea Lions who jumped out to the early lead, putting up three runs in the bottom of the first of game one. After a leadoff walk to Mike Marcoux, Tyler Hanzawa reached on an error. The two runners advanced on a fielder’s choice. Tyler Nordgren then singled in Marcoux. Hanzawa scored on a wild pitch. Nordgren was then batted in by Kellen Sheppard to complete the scoring. At the end of one Dixie trailed 3-1.
DSU added a run in the sixth when Kevin Kline doubled in Trey Kamachi. Point Loma matched the run in the seventh when Hanzawa scored on a Kyle Desimone single to right field. At the end of seven, the Point Loma advantage was 4-2.
Dixie State’s big inning came in the eighth. Drew McLaughlin beat the throw from short for an infield single. Austin Bartleson, who had scored the first run of the game, and Kamachi both drew walks from Sea Lion pitcher Mickey Dunleavy. Kevin Kline then emptied the bases with a double to left field to put DSU up 5-4. Kline advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a wild pitch to complete the scoring.
Red Storm pitcher Kevin Dorantes got the win to go to 4-1 on the year. Evan Parker secured the game with his 12th save. Dunleavy took the loss and fell to 2-2.
In the later game, the Red Storm squeaked out a 4-3 win. Again it would be the Sea Lions who struck first, getting all three of their runs in the third inning. The action nearly duplicated the first inning of the earlier game. Marcoux led off with a walk. Hanzawa then reached on an error. After Clinton Harwick was retired with a fly ball, the base runners advanced on a double steal. Nordgren then hit a two-run double to left field. Nordgren would score on a Desimone double to complete the scoring.
Dixie State answered in the next inning. Kris Kaplan led off, taking first base after getting hit by the first pitch. Bartleson reached on a fielder’s choice. Ty Johnson singled up the middle. Both runners advanced when Dalton Gust was also hit by pitch and the bases were loaded. Yuto Kata then hit a two-run double to left field. He was followed with a two-run single by Kamachi. The Rebels led 4-3, which held up the remainder of the game.
For Dixie, Kody Christoffersen got the win and moves to 6-2. Matt Hill got the save. The Sea Lions Garret Levsen ended up with the loss, falling to 5-3.
Point Loma falls to 21-24, 12-16 in the conference. Dixie returns home to host Fresno Pacific with four games over three days, beginning with a night game Thursday at 6 p.m. at Bruce Hurst Field.
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