PLNU REWARDED WITH HOST DUTIES OF REGIONAL
There was little suspense for Point Loma Nazarene on Sunday evening when the NCAA Division II Regionals were announced.
PLNU knew it was already in the 56-team field after earning an automatic berth as the PacWest regular season champion.
And PLNU didn’t have to wait long to find out playoff particulars — it was the first team off the board on the “NCAA Selection Show.”
The Sea Lions are the top seed in West Region #1 and they will host a threeteam regional at Carroll B. Land Stadium. This is the first time PLNU has been a No. 1 seed and hosted since joining Division II a decade ago.
“Everything that we’ve built here over the years, this has been one of the main goals,” said PLNU head coach Justin James, who was especially excited his players get to play at home because “hosting a regional is something they can always hang their hat on.”
PLNU’s 43-7 record this season is the best in the nation.
James explains it this way: “Hard work with the right guys. You put those two together and big, unimaginable things can happen.”
No. 4 Northwest Nazarene (30-21) and No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona (35-17) meet in the opening game of the regional on Thursday at 11 a.m. PLNU plays the losing team at 2 p.m. The doubleelimination regional continues Friday and extends into Saturday, if necessary.
PLNU swept a four-game home series against Northwest Nazarene during the second week of the season. The Sea Lions have not played Cal Poly Pomona this year.
The West Region #1 winner meets the West Region #2 winner in the best-ofthree Super Regionals, which are May 27-28.
West Region #2 is hosted by No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific (34-16) and also includes No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay (36-15) and No. 6 Western Oregon (34-18).
As the No. 1 seed in the West, PLNU also would host the Super Regional, if it advances.
The eight Super Regional winners around the country go on to the NCAA Division II tournament that begins June 4 in Cary, N.C.
Tritons update
UC San Diego got off to a strong start Friday at UC Davis, winning the series opener 15-5. Things were decidedly different for the Tritons the following two games, with UC Davis winning 6-5 and 8-5 to capture the series.
In its victory, UCSD (2327, 12-12 Big West) jumped out to a 15-0 lead through five innings before UC Davis (6-28, 5-19) scored.
UCSD is now tied for sixth place in the conference with Long Beach State (2327, 12-12). The Tritons close out the season the next two weeks with series against Hawaii and at Cal State Northridge.
This week: Friday-Sunday vs. Hawaii, 6:30 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m.
Aztecs update
San Diego State will not qualify for the Mountain West Tournament for the first time in school history, though SDSU still will host the four-team tourney next week at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs (17-36, 9-18 MW) closed out their home schedule with a series loss to Nevada (27-22, 17-10), sandwiching a 9-2 win between 6-3 and 10-3 losses to the Wolf Pack.
Aztecs sophomore lefthander TJ Fondtain (3-6) provided the weekend highlight, tossing his second straight complete game in Saturday’s win. Fondtain allowed one earned run on five hits and had eight strikeouts.
SDSU closes out the season this week at UNLV.
This week: ThursdaySaturday at UNLV, 6 p.m./6 p.m./Noon.
Toreros update
The University of San Diego (31-16, 16-8 West Coast Conference) had the weekend off in preparation for this weekend’s regular-season showdown with Gonzaga (32-13, 18-6), which swept Santa Clara over the weekend.
Gonzaga comes to Fowler Park with a two-game lead over second-place USD and Portland (30-18, 16-8). The Toreros need to sweep Gonzaga in order to at least share the regular season WCC championship.
The top two finishers in the regular season get firstround byes in next week’s WCC Tournament at Stockton’s Banner Island Ballpark.
This week: Friday-Sunday vs. Gonzaga, 6 p.m./6 p.m./1 p.m.