of the Tribune
For 35 innings sandwiched in six days, Point Loma Nazarene’s presence on the mound and sturdiness in the field was a potent brew. The Sea Lions were skilled and heady, yes, but they also had an unmistakable vibe that played out in less tangible ways.
Somewhere along the way, that mojo vanished. Or maybe to put it more accurately, Lubbock Christian squashed it.
The Chaparrals on Friday night yanked away a national title that appeared so close for Point Loma by registering their second straight victory in the NAIA World Series championship round. They put a capper on the 10-team tournament by hashing out an 11-8 win at Harris Field.
It was a hard-to-swallow finale for the Sea Lions, who marched within one win of the national crown but couldn’t muster a repeat performance of their 2-1 conquest of LCU on Tuesday. After a magnificent outing from Brandon Dixon to hold back the nation’s top-ranked team, the pitching staff for San Diego club lost a bit of its luster.
What happened?
“We were lights out on the mound all week,” PLNU coach Joe Schaefer said, “and when guys have to start going around their second starts in the tournament, they’re bound to get hit a little bit, get tired a little bit. And that’s when the offense kind of comes around. So my hat’s off to Lubbock for showing up offensively today.”
Point Loma’s bats were also on track Friday night — at least early on — but LCU never let the Lions catch their breath on the mound.
In the first, Lubbock cranked out five runs off five hits — all of which were singed into the outfield or off the wall. And when PLNU (45-13) conjured a gutsy rally with four runs in the third to knot the score at 5-all, the Chaps answered again with a three-run homer from Will Stramp.
“We shut them down once,” Dixon said. “That’s a feat, you know? We got the offense that we needed today, but there’s not much else you can say. They just flat-out hit. They’re the No. 1 seed and the No. 1 team for a reason.”
Chris Honer and Dixon, both of whom had gone deep or thrown nine innings in starts earlier this week, allowed five runs apiece this time. Honer, a senior who shut down Oklahoma City on Memorial Day, lasted just a third of inning before being chased in the first. Dixon relieved him and was slightly more effective, lasting 3 innings.
For both, however, the crispness that was present earlier wasn’t there.
“I give a ton of credit to our guys, Chris Honer and Brandon Dixon, coming back after just a couple days and trying to gut it out against the best offensive team in the country, in my opinion,” Schaefer said. “It’s awesome, but we just didn’t have it today.”
Dixon acknowledged he was slightly fatigued after tossing a complete-game gem on Tuesday. Yet it wasn’t his arm that was the issue per se.
“I felt pretty confident, but pitching nine innings against them obviously they got a lot of good looks,” the 6-foot-3 junior said. “There may have been a little fatigue — not so much in arm but in my legs. I really felt it coming back after two days, but you can’t ask for anything else. We fought really hard and showed a lot of heart. They flat-out beat us.”
———
Wright may be contacted at sports@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2268.
