IRVINE, Calif. -- Point Loma took its first loss of the season against Azusa Pacific last week but bounced back quickly with three wins in a row against the three-time defending conference champions to get a 3-1 start to PacWest play for the No. 1 team in the USBWA West Region poll.
 
Azusa Pacific won the series opener with AJ Woodall allowing just one run over seven innings to earn the win before Declan Kearney threw two innings in relief for the save in the 3-2 win. Point Loma then beat the Cougars by the exact same score after Otto Kemp hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game. When the series moved to Azusa, the scores remained tight with Point Loma picking up another one-run win following their 5-3 win in Game 3 of the series.
 
Concordia is now 3-1 in PacWest play after dropping the first game against Academy of Art and then winning three in a row. Riley O’Sullivan threw 7.2 innings in the second game of the series and struck out nine batters to earn his second win of the season. Noah McBride entered in relief with a 4-1 lead in the eighth and struck out all four batters he faced to earn the save in the 7-1 win.
 
Holy Names and Biola split their four-game series last week with the Hawks winning the second pair of games, each by one run. In the third game, a pair of bases-loaded walks sent the tying and game-winning run across home plate in the seventh inning before Matt Freeman threw three shutout innings with just one hit allowed to earn his first win. Holy Names is now 9-8 on the season and will travel to Hawai`i this week for a pair of series against the Sharks and then Vulcans.
 
Weekly awards for the week of Feb. 21-27
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Michael Dixon, Concordia
OF, Jr., 6-1 -- Oakland, Calif.
Dixon helped Concordia win each of its last three games against Academy of Art to start conference play 3-1. He had a pair of multi-hit games for the Eagles, who were ranked No. 23 in the nation going into the series. In the first game, he went 1 for 4 with a triple and run scored. In the nightcap, he added some insurance runs for Concordia by hitting a 2-RBI double to left-center field in the seventh inning. Then in the ninth inning, he hit a 3-run home run to left field as he finished the game 2 for 5 with 5 RBIs. Dixon hit his second home run of the series the following day as he went 3 for 4 with a walk, four runs and two RBIs. He finished the week with four extra-base hits and totals of seven RBIs and six runs scored. He is now batting .327 for the season with two home runs and 11 RBIs. He has recorded a hit in all but one of Concordia’s nine wins this season.
 
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Collin Carriger, Academy of Art
RHP, Sr., 6-0 -- Fair Oaks, Calif.
Carriger earned his first win of the season in the series-opener against No. 23 Concordia. He pitched a two-run complete game with just three hits and one walk allowed, striking out 16 batters in the 3-2 win. Academy of Art trailed 1-0 through the first five innings, but Carriger kept putting zeroes on the board after initially allowing a run on a sacrifice fly. That allowed the Urban Knights to get back in the game and eventually win on a sacrifice fly of their own in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the first game of the series. In the first four innings, Carriger struck out 10 batters, striking out the side in order in the third inning and fourth inning. He struck out seven batters in a row before getting a second-pitch foul out to end the streak. In the ninth inning, he struck out the first two batters before getting Dixon to fly out. As he walked off the mound for the final time, the score was tied 2-2, and then Travis Turney hit a leadoff triple and then scored the game-winning run.