AZUSA, Calif. -- Point Loma moved one step closer to a potential Pacific West Conference title Monday night after handing No. 3-ranked Azusa Pacific a 12-5 defeat in the opening game of this week's four-game winner-take-all series.

The Sea Lions knocked Azusa Pacific starting pitcher Isaiah Carranza out of the game in less than five innings, scoring seven runs off the previously-unbeaten ace to jump out to the early lead and claim the opening game of the crucial four-game set.

Travis Takata led the way for PLNU with a 4-for-5, 5-RBI performance, while the Sea Lions' freshman sensation pitching ace Garrett Irvin held the Cougars' prolific offense to one run in his seven innings of work to lead Point Loma to its 15th straight victory. The only blemish on Irvin's fantastic performance was a second-inning solo home run served up to freshman third baseman Osvaldo Tovalin, but he ended up allowing just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work before leaving the game with a 12-1 lead.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific falls to 37-8 overall and 27-8 in PacWest play, and the Cougars now sit in a virtual tie with Point Loma at the top of the PacWest standings as PLNU is now 32-14 overall, 28-9 PacWest.

What It Means: The PacWest may not have a postseason tournament yet, but Point Loma's win means the conference title now comes down to a best-of-three in the remaining games of the four-game series this week. If Point Loma wins two of the final three games, it will finish the season with a series win and a conference title. If Azusa Pacific wins two of the last three, it will claim its second consecutive PacWest championship.

How It Happened: Point Loma jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Takata's bases-clearing two-out double in the top of the first inning, but Carranza kept the Sea Lions there for the next three innings while Tovalin's sixth home run of the year pulled the Cougars within 3-1.

Takata's one-out RBI single in the top of the fifth helped spark a four-run inning which chased Carranza from the game and extended the PLNU lead to 7-1. Takata hit another run-producing single with two outs in the sixth inning, and Adam Rios hit a leadoff home run to start the seventh as Point Loma scored twice in each of the sixth and seventh innings before adding a single run in the eighth to take a 12-1 lead.

Mychael Goudreau hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth inning and came around to score on an Austin Russ groundout to cut the lead to 12-2. Tim Lichty led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run down the right field line, and Joseph Kim hit his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot with one out in the ninth that cut the margin to 12-5.

Inside The Box Score: Goudreau was Azusa Pacific's only batter with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 24 consecutive games… It was Goudreau's 15th multi-hit game of the season… Lichty was one of 12 Cougar seniors who were honored in a pregame Senior Day ceremony, and his pinch-hit home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth was his seventh home run of the season… The Cougars rank among Division II's top-10 teams in home runs (72), with Kim adding a ninth-inning two-run blast for his first collegiate home run to Tovalin's second-inning solo shot… John Szczesny finished the game with two scoreless innings of relief… Takata led PLNU's 12-run, 13-hit attack with four hits, but four others tallied two hits each for the Sea Lions.

What's Next: The teams continue the four-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Tuesday, followed by a single game at 1 p.m. Wednesday to wrap up the regular season for both teams. Another set of West Region rankings will be announced sometime Wednesday, although none of the games from this week's series will be included until the final set of rankings is produced for this weekend's NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship selection and seeding.