No. 13 Dixie State saw its 10-game winning streak halted Friday as the Storm dropped both ends of a Pacific West Conference doubleheader at Point Loma Nazarene, 8-3 and 7-5, at Carroll B. Land Stadium in San Diego, Calif. The losses dropped DSU to 28-8 overall, 16-6 in PacWest play.

Sea Lion first baseman Ryan Garcia got PLNU (19-10/9-7 PacWest) on the board in the first inning when he pulled a 2-1 offering from senior starter Chance Abrath (Salt Lake City, Utah/West HS) (L, 2-3) over the right field wall for a two-run home run to stake his team to an early 2-0 lead. Point Loma struck again in the second frame as the Sea Lions loaded the bases with three singles ahead of Garcia, who unloaded them with his second homer in as many at-bats, this time a grand slam to right field, which gave PLNU a commanding 6-0 lead.

Dixie State came back with two runs in the fourth as Tanner Morache (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Surrey HS) singled and Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) doubled to lead off the frame. However DSU could not put together a big inning as both baserunners would come score on RBI-groundouts as PLNU starter Kellen Sheppard (W, 6-2) escaped further damage.

After Point Loma answered with a run in the home half of the fourth, DSU had another chance to put up a crooked number in the fifth. Reece Lucero (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS), Morache and McLaughlin all singled to load the bases, but again Sheppard wiggled off the hook to keep the Storm at bay. PLNU would tack on another insurance run in the seventh and DSU would get an unearned run back in the ninth, but could not complete the rally.

McLaughlin and Morache combined for six of DSU's nine hits in the opener, with McLaughlin going 4-for-4 and Morache collecting two hits in five plate appearances.

Garcia finished with seven RBI to lead the Sea Lions' offense, while Sheppard scattered eight hits and two runs with five strikeouts in eight innings to pick the win.

Morache staked Dixie State to a quick 1-0 lead in the nightcap as he became the first Storm player in three years to lead off a game with a home run, doing so down the right field line on the second pitch of the game. Sophomore DH Cam Gust (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS) followed suit one inning later as he clubbed his team-leading fifth homer of the year on a 1-0 pitch to lead off the second inning to give the Storm a 2-0 lead.

After the Sea Lions countered with a single run in the third, junior third baseman Tyler Mildenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) led off the fifth inning with a solo homer to right field to stake DSU to a 3-1 lead. Dixie State would load the bases later in the frame on base hits from Morache and Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, Hawai'i/Kapolei HS) and an intentional walk to Samuel Hall (Ogden, Utah/Bonneville HS), but Sea Lion reliever Patrick McMullen (W, 2-1) retired the next two Storm hitters he faced to get PLNU out of the jam.

The missed scoring chance came back to haunt Dixie State in the home half of the fifth as the Sea Lions scored five runs in the stanza, with the big blow coming from game one winner Sheppard, who drilled a three-run homer to center field to cap the rally and give PLNU a 6-3 lead.

DSU got one of the runs back to lead off the sixth as Miles Bice (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) and Trey Reineke (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill HS) each doubled to begin the stanza. McLaughlin then reached with a one-out single carrying the tying run, but again the Sea Lions escaped further damage as McMullen induced an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

Dixie State mounted one last charge in the ninth as Hall doubled home a run after McLaughlin and Kamachi both reached with one out, but that would be as close as the Storm would get as Point Loma reliever Coleman Huntley (S, 6) came on to get the final two outs to close the game.

DSU lost despite outhitting Point Loma 12-11, with McLaughlin collecting three more hits to finish the day 7-for-8, while Morache and Mildenberg finished with two hits apiece. DSU freshman starter Preston Hannay (Murray, Utah/Murray HS) (L, 3-1) was touched up for six hits and four runs in 4.1 innings in suffering his first loss of the season.

Dixie State will look to salvage a series split and dodge potential bad weather as the Storm and Sea Lions will wrap up the set with another doubleheader Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. (PDT).

NOTES: Prior to the Morache lead-off home run to start game two Friday, the last DSU player to lead off a game with a homer was former Storm outfielder Garrett Nash, who accomplished the feat on the road at Azusa Pacific on March 29, 2013 ... DSU tied a season-high with three home runs in game two ... After not allowing a home run in just over a month (16 games), DSU gave up four total home runs on Friday ... Prior to today the last home run hit against DSU came at home vs. California Baptist on March 5, a total span of 137.2 innings ... DSU's first 10-game winning streak of the year (10-0 to start the season) was snapped after the Storm dropped the first two games of a four-game road series at Colorado Mesa back in February, however DSU came back to win the final two games of that set to come away with a split ... Friday's opener was DSU's 200th game road game as an NCAA D-II member, while game two was Dixie State's 250th PacWest game and Head Coach Chris Pfatenhauer's 300th game as a head coach.