(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Baseball is one step closer to the NCAA Division II World Series after a 5-3 win over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the NCAA Super Regionals in Carroll B. Land Stadium.
All-American starting pitcher
Derek Silva was superb on the mound, striking out 10 batters across eight stellar innings to earn the win.
Hank Smith and
Jack Ryan each hit solo homers, with Smith also pitching a scoreless ninth to record the save.
Smith's solo shot in the bottom of the second tied the game at one, before Point Loma scored twice in the third when
Tristan Moore set the PLNU single-season program RBI record with a groundout and
Josiah Rodriguez tied the program's single-season hits mark with a run-scoring single.
NNU then leveled the game in the fourth, only for Ryan to restore PLNU's lead in the bottom half with a solo blast of his own to straightaway center.
Mason Cook later walked with the bases loaded in the fifth to score the Sea Lions' fifth run of the game and extend PLNU's advantage back to two.
That proved to be more than enough, as Silva and Smith shut down the Nighthawks' bats with five straight scoreless frames to close out the game and give PLNU a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-3 Super Regionals.
Point Loma (48-11) and Northwest Nazarene (41-17) will play Game 2 on Friday at noon, with an if-necessary Game 3 scheduled for Saturday.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
