(AZUSA, Calif.) PLNU Baseball completed a stunning run through the PacWest Championships, winning its fourth-straight game to claim the conference tournament title for the first time with a 20-16 victory over Concordia.
Point Loma defeated CUI, 23-9, earlier on Friday to force a winner-take-all championship game, and the Sea Lions' bats stayed hot in the nightcap.
Scott Anderson and
Jake Entrekin each had six RBIs in the game, while
Esai Santos had five, to lift PLNU.
Anderson, who had nine RBIs total on the day, became the program's all-time career leader in RBIs, adding to his program lead in career hits and runs scored.
Entrekin's grand slam highlighted a six-run second inning for the Sea Lions, who then went up by double digits in the third after a ground-rule double from Santos and a single from Anderson.
After
Tommy Molina's solo home run, CUI made a spirited comeback to get to within two after scoring twice in the fifth and seven more in the top of the sixth, only for PLNU to respond immediately with six runs of its own.
Santos, Anderson and Entrekin added run-scoring hits in the team's six-run sixth, before a homer from Anderson in the eighth rounded out the Sea Lions' scoring. Anderson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Jonathan Kozasky earned the win on the mound after pitching five innings.
Point Loma (40-10-1 overall) reaches the 40-win mark for the second time since joining the NCAA and is all but guaranteed to receive the No. 1 seed when the NCAA West Regional bracket is released on Sunday night.
With a top-two seed, the Sea Lions would host the regional at Carroll B. Land Stadium for the second time.
PLNU is making its third-straight NCAA regional appearance and sixth overall.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
