SAN DIEGO, Calif. — An even split down in San Diego kicked off the PacWest season Friday afternoon as Azusa Pacific claimed game one of the four-game series 3-2 behind the stellar pitching of A.J. Woodall before Point Loma escaped with a win in game two by the same score despite a bit of controversy. The two teams will decide the fate of the series tomorrow with a doubleheader in Azusa, Calif., first pitch of game three is set for 11:00 a.m. at the Cougar Baseball Complex.

After Azusa Pacific dominated last season's series against Point Loma winning six of the eight games by a total margin of 56-29 en route to winning the PacWest SoCal Pod, the Sea Lions hung tough in both games today as pitching from both sides stole the show. Woodall recorded the win after seven strong innings in game one besting his counterpart in Baxter Halligan who came into the game with a perfect 3-0 record. 

In game two, Isaac Mendez had a strong outing that lasted his season-long 6.1 innings before a costly call in the bottom of the seventh inning would lead to a walk-off win for Point Loma.

How it Happened (Game 1): Neither team threatened to score before the fifth inning as both teams' aces tossed four scoreless frames to start. It was the Sea Lions that scored first in the fifth, with two outs a runner reached and got to second on an error before Otto Kemp singled in the first run of the game.

The Cougars offense would respond in the top of the sixth, with two outs and one-on Tido Robles continued to swing a hot bat sending his fifth home run of the season to left field to give Azusa Pacific the 2-1 lead. The Cougars would tack on another run in the next frame as Aaron Roose was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run and make it 3-1.

Woodall would be relieved after seven frames with no earned runs and five strikeouts, he left five runners on in the first five innings before a clean sixth and seventh would cap off his brilliant outing. Declan Kearney would do the rest for Azusa Pacific, notching his second save of the season. After a 1-2-3 eighth, Kearney allowed a single and a hit by pitch with two outs in the ninth. The game would end on a single to left-center that ended with a Cougar relay to second to nail the Sea Lion batter looking to stretch his hit into a double to end the game with the final score being 3-2 in favor of Azusa Pacific.

How it Happened (Game 2): The Cougars got out in front in the nightcap in the first with back-to-back solo home runs by the 1-2 punch of Casey Dykstra and Casey O'Laughlin. The two lefties both went yard to right field to jump-start the offense early.

The Sea Lions would scratch one across against Mendez in the bottom half on an RBI double to cut the Cougars' advantage to 2-1. 

Neither team threatened until Kemp's solo home run came in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 2-apiece. Mendez allowed just three hits in his first six frames and struck out four.

Still tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, a lead-off single got Point Loma going but Mendez got a pop-up on the next batter for the first out of the inning. With a runner at first and one-out, the Sea Lions worked the hit and run with a base hit to left field. Running on the pitch, the Point Loma runner kept going on his way to third but O'Laughlin's throw found Robles at the bag just before the runner slid in. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the call didn't go their way as the runner was called safe and would score from third on a groundball on the next play to win the game 3-2.

Up Next: The Cougars and Sea Lions are set to face off against one another once again with tomorrow's doubleheader (Saturday, February 26th). First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the Cougar Baseball Complex on Azusa Pacific's East Campus. To watch the games for free visit this link here, or follow along with live stats here.