The even-year magic continued.
PLNU Baseball won a third West Region title in five years, adding to its regional championships in 2022 and 2024, to make a return trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, N.C.
Point Loma defeated Northwest Nazarene in the Super Regionals, taking both games played in the best-of-3 series to hoist the regional championship trophy in America’s Most Scenic Ballpark once again.
After winning the first game of the Super Regionals, 5-3, thanks to eight innings and 10 strikeouts from All-American starting pitcher Derek Silva, Point Loma won 6-3 in game two, with All-Region starter Devin Norton earning the victory on the mound, throwing seven innings and striking out nine.
PLNU trailed 2-1 in the eighth inning before All-American outfielder Tristan Moore hit a two-out, two-RBI go-ahead double to put the Sea Lions in front. Jack Ryan then homered for the second straight game to add insurance runs for closer Hank Smith, who earned back-to-back saves, sending the Sea Lions to Cary.
That came after Point Loma advanced past the regional round in dramatic fashion, winning a pair of extra-inning games after not playing a single extra-inning game all season.
In its regional opener against Cal Poly Pomona, PLNU fell behind 7-0 and then 9-2 before storming back to win in 11 innings. The Sea Lions trailed by two runs in each of the ninth, 10th and 11th innings but came back each time to eventually win on Ryan Ruch’s walkoff single. Then after splitting the next two games with Cal State San Bernardino, the Sea Lions and Yotes battled in a winner-take-all game with a Super Regional berth on the line.
PLNU trailed 8-5 after seven innings but scored three runs in the top of the eighth to tie it. Each team scored once in the ninth to send the game to extras, before Tommy Molina’s go-ahead single scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the 10th.
Point Loma previously won a fourth PacWest Conference title in five seasons, becoming the first team in conference history to win four PacWest championships.
The Sea Lions also went a perfect 3-0 in the PacWest Tournament to win a second conference tournament in three seasons. PLNU is the only team to win the PacWest Tournament multiple times in the tournament’s four years of existence.
After winning its first game at the NCAA Division II World Series, Point Loma finished the season with a 50-13 overall record to reach the 50-win mark in a single season for the second time in program history.
