SAN DIEGO.—In a battle of sister schools on the baseball west region’s highest stage, host Point Loma struck first blood with a 5-3 win over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday afternoon at Carroll B. Land Stadium.

That gives the Sea Lions a 1-0 series lead in the NCAA West Super Regional. Game two will be on Friday at noon in the best-of-three format. If NNU wins tomorrow, the two squads will play again on Saturday, also at noon.

Today, PLNU’s Jack Ryan hit the go-ahead homer in the fourth inning and Hank Smith went yard in the second and went to the mound in the ninth to record the save.

Earlier, the Nighthawks got on the board first when Jake Mestas homered. But Point Loma answered back in the bottom of the second on Smith’s round tripper. In the third, the Sea Lions scored two more with RBI's from Tristan Moore and Josiah Rodriguez.

But NNU tied it in the fourth on a two-run homer by Adrian Arechiga. That set the stage for Ryan’s go-ahead shot, and Point Loma added insurance in the fifth via a hit, walk and Nighthawk error.

That would be all starter Derek Silva and Smith would need. Silva was excellent in improving to 11-1 on the year, allowing five hits in eight innings, one earned run and he fanned 10. He finally left the contest after a gritty 121 pitches.

Smith allowed just one hit in the ninth and induced a ground out to end the game.

Point Loma, who has now won nine of their last 10 games, improved to 48-11. The Nighthawks, coached by former Point Loma player and coach Joe Schaeffer, is now 41-17.