Point Loma rides Dixon’s complete-game gem to 2-1 win over Chaps, becomes Series only remaining unbeaten
of the Tribune
Either Brandon Dixon has a tendency to exaggerate, or his recollection is a bit hazy in regard to the NAIA Top 25. His assertion that Point Loma Nazarene has been rooted at No. 3 for four months is both inaccurate and impossible.
Whatever. Dixon’s a ballplayer, not a stat geek, so no one cares if he gleans inspiration from a slightly skewed fact.
And you certainly can’t argue with the results.
Dixon emerged as the victor of a smartly waged pitchers’ duel, and the Sea Lions triumphed in a tidy battle of highly distinguished teams. They subdued top-ranked Lubbock Christian 2-1 on Monday night at Harris Field, leaving themselves as last undefeated ballclub in the NAIA World Series.
Point Loma Nazarene turned R.L. Eisenbach’s only walks into a pair of seventh-inning runs, and the San Diego ballclub’s surperb defense helped Dixon complete a lockdown performance in the Series’ only game thus far that hasn’t featured a home run.
“People are going to doubt us, because we’re not going to drive the ball out of the yard like a lot of teams,” said the junior left-hander, who held the Chaparrals to seven hits — all but one of them a single — while striking out six. “But we can play the game, and we’re going to hang around.”
As the lone remaining unbeaten, the Sea Lions (44-11) will be around for at least two more days. If they prevail in tonight’s matchup with Lee, they’ll earn no less than a 2-for-1 shot at the school’s first national championship — as dictated by the double-elimination format.
Lubbock Christian (49-8) squares off with Sooner Athletic Conference adversary Oklahoma City in a win-or-else contest this afternoon at 3.
While the Sea Lions were essentially flawless in this exquisitely played contest viewed by a crowd of 3,005, the Chapparals were nearly as clean. While Lubbock Christian came up with several examples of fielding expertise, Eisenbach (12-1) limited PLNU to five singles and struck out eight.
Those walks, however, proved costly. Mike Miles and Kurt Steinhauer both worked full counts before taking ball four from to start the PLNU seventh. After a strikeout, Steven Winnick singled to right, and Miles barely beat the throw to the plate. Eisenbach then uncorked a wild pitch, moving both runners up, and Wes Kartch followed with a sacrifice fly.
Lubbock Christian, which scored in the fourth inning by way of Tyler Johnson’s leadoff double and Dan Neumann’s one-out single, gave the Sea Lions cause for concern in the seventh and eighth.
But both threats were doused by baserunning gaffes. Catcher Tim Winslow gunned down Jaime Armendariz while he tried to steal second in the seventh. Then in the eighth, alert right fielder made Rob Learned pay dearly for a wide turn at first after a two-out single.
“I promised (Dixon) that the defense was going to be there for him,” Point Loma coach Joe Schaefer said. “They played well behind him, and he just got better as the game went on.”
Dixon (10-3) worked an in-order ninth, holding the Chaps to their lowest offensive output since being shut out by Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 14.
“This was our chance to make a statement,” Dixon said. “We’ve been No. 3 for four months (actually, the poll began on Feb. 24, and the Sea Lions dropped to fourth for three weeks in April), and we haven’t been able to move. But to come out and knock off No. 2 (Oklahoma City) and No. 1 on consecutive nights — that’s making a statement.”
POINT LOMA LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Downing rf 4 0 1 0 Rindels rf 4 0 0 0
Miles lf 3 1 0 0 Muse rf 0 0 0 0
Steinhauer cf 3 1 0 0 Stramp lf 4 0 2 0
McCleary dh 4 0 2 0 Blondin 3b 3 0 0 0
Winnick 1b 3 0 2 1 Johnson c 3 0 2 0
MacMaster 1b 1 0 0 0 Kazmiersk pr 0 1 0 0
Kartch 3b 2 0 0 1 Soberans pr 0 0 0 0
Kuehl ss 3 0 0 0 Learned 1b 4 0 1 0
Cameron 2b 2 0 0 0 Neumann dh 4 0 1 1
Newburg ph 1 0 0 0 Dominguz ss 4 0 0 0
Winslow c 3 0 0 0 Armendarz cf 4 0 0 0
Merrell 2b 4 0 1 0
Totals 29 2 5 2 Totals 32 1 7 1
Point Loma 000 000 200—2 5 0
Lubbock Christian 000 100 000—1 7 0
Point Loma ip h r er bb so
Dixon (W, 10-3) 9 7 1 1 2 6
Lubbock Christian ip h r er bb so
Eisenbach (L, 12-1) 9 5 2 2 2 8
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Browitt may be contacted at jbrowitt@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260.
Point Loma 2
Lubbock Christian 1
> STARS of the gameLCU had posted two 11-run outbursts in the Series, but Brandon DIXOn made the Chaps look feeble with a complete-game seven-hitter. The Point Loma starter was never in serious trouble, pitching in front of a squeaky clean defense.
Sea Lions first baseman StEVEN WINNICK provided the key hit, a one-out RBI single in the seventh that pushed PLNU to a 1-1 tie. WES Kartch then capped the rally with a sac fly that scored Kurt Steinhauer.
> FRUSTRATION GALORE
LCU two-hole hitter WILL Stramp is still hitting north of .500 after a 2-for-4 outing. But both of his hits on Tuesday came with two outs and didn’t lead to any runs.
