IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS:The 2015 season all comes down to the final series of the year for the Point Loma baseball team. The Sea Lions, which are ranked No. 6 in the latest NCAA West Region poll, will put its hopes and dreams for qualifying for postseason play on the line this weekend when they travel to No. 5 Dixie State for a four-game series starting on Friday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m. (PST).
FOLLOW ALONG:The whole series at Dixie State will be available for fans to follow through live video and live stats. Live video of the series will be available on a pay-per-view basis and can be accessed at http://southernutahlive.com/program/view/Dixie-State-University-Baseball. Cost is $7.95 per event. Live stats are free of charge and are available at
http://www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/baseball/. Both the live stats and the live video may be accessed through Point Loma's website at www.plnusealions.com or by clicking the following links: [
Live stats] [
Live video]
REGIONAL REPORT:The third regional rank of the 2015 season was released on Wednesday, Apr. 29, and the Sea Lions fell three spots to No. 6 in the latest rankings. Cal Poly Pomona continues to hold the top spot for the third week in a row. Fellow PacWest members California Baptist and Azusa Pacific, occupy the No. 2 and No. 3 spots on the rankings, respectively. UC San Diego is ranked No. 4, while Dixie State and PLNU round out the top 6. CCAA members Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State LA are outside looking in at the moment at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively. PLNU ranked No. 3 in each of the first two regional polls of the season before dropping in the latest one. The West Regionals will be held May 14-17. The site of the West Regional is yet to be determined. To see the
complete NCAA Regional poll click here.
HUNTLEY NOMINATED FOR NCAA DII PITCHER OF THE YEAR:Coleman Huntley III has made quite an impact in his first season in the Green & Gold. He has helped lock down the backend of the bullpen, allowing each of the other members of the Sea Lions' staff to slot into place. He has also accumulated the numbers to go along with that as he ranks amongst the top relievers in all of Division II. He leads NCAA Division II with 12 saves, while posting a 2-2 record with a 1.57 earned run average. He has allowed just 19 hits over 23 innings while striking out 30, and has combined on three shutouts. For his success on the mound this season Huntley was nominated for the
Brett Tomko Award as the top pitcher in Division II. The winner will be announced on June 1 prior to the NCAA Division II Championships in Cary, N.C.
A LOOK AT POINT LOMA:The Sea Lions are 31-14 on the season and in third place in the PacWest standings with a 17-11 record. PLNU has struggled recently. After winning 17 straight games between Mar. 12 and Apr. 8, the Sea Lions have now lost seven of their last eight games, including being swept at home by California Baptist last week. It was the first time Point Loma had been swept at home since its opening series of the 2013 season.
AJ Derr,
Devin Carter and
Ryan Garcia are all hitting over .300 to pace Point Loma.
AJ Derr is leading the team in batting average (.350) and on-base (.442); however, he has not played the last two series. He is tied for ninth in the PacWest in batting average and sixth in on-base percentage. Sophomore first baseman
Ryan Garcia is hitting .314 and he ranked second in the league and 31st in the country with 18 doubles. Garcia also ranks eighth in the PacWest with a .528 slugging percentage. He leads Point Loma and ranks ninth in the conference with 34 runs batted in, and he has also walked 17 times and struck out just 15 times.
Devin Carter is the team's leading home run hitter with six on the season. He is hitting .315 this season with 30 RBI and 28 runs scored. He is tied for fourth in the conference in homers, and third in stolen bases with 13.
Anthony Torres is tied with Carter for third in the PacWest with 13 stolen bases. He is the seventh-toughest person in the PacWest to strikeout with just 14 Ks on the season. Torres has also controlled the running game with just 48% of would-be base stealers being successful.
The bullpen has been the strength of the PLNU pitching staff this season, but the starters have also been very good with all four posting ERAs below 4.01.
Coleman Huntley III has been one of best, if not the top, closer in NCAA Division II this year. He leads all of NCAA Division II with 12 saves. The transfer from Saddleback CC is 2-2 this season with a 1.57 ERA. He has allowed just 19 hits over 23 innings while striking out 30. He has also combined on three shutouts. Setup man
Mickey Dunleavy is 4-0 this season with a 2.25 ERA after allowing just 20 hits in 24 innings pitched.
Kellen Sheppard's 3.09 ERA leads the PLNU starting staff of
Eric Pierce (3.28),
Trevor Abshire (3.44) and
Kevin Lillicrop (4.01). As a staff, PLNU ranks second in the PacWest and 15th in NCAA Division II with a 3.27 ERA, a 2.54 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.36 WHIP. [
PacWest stats]
A LOOK AT DIXIE STATE:The Red Storm (29-15, 22-6 PacWest) enter the final weekend of the season holding a one-game lead on California Baptist in the PacWest standings in an attempt to repeat as the conference champions. Dixie State opened PacWest play at 20-1, but have struggled since, going just 4-7 since Apr. 10. However, despite the struggles Dixie State was still able to move up in the regional rankings from No. 6 to No. 5 thanks to PLNU dropping seven of its last eight.
Tanner Morache leads the Red Storm and ranks fourth in the PacWest with a .382 batting average. He is also fourth in hits (66), fifth in runs scored (41) and ninth in on-base percentage (.429). Kevin Kline is also ranked amongst the offensive leaders. He is third in runs scored (43), sixth in runs batted in (39), seventh in slugging percentage (.535) and 10th in home runs (5). The Red Storm rank fourth in the PacWest with a .289 batting average and a .366 on-base percentage.
Closer Evan Parker is right behind PLNU's Huntley for the PacWest and national lead in saves. He has 11 saves this season to go along with a 1-2 record and a 1.23 ERA. He has struck out 23 in 22 innings, and has allowed just 14 hits. As a team, Dixie State has a 4.37 ERA to rank seventh out of nine teams.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW:Following this series, the Sea Lions will wait a week until their fate is decided for the NCAA West Regional. The NCAA Selection Show is May 10 at 7:00 p.m. (PST), and at that point PLNU will know whether or not they have been selected to the regional and what seed they will receive, as well as their first round opponent. The Selection Show will be available to watch at
http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2015-03-14/2015-spring-championships-selections.
