POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
(CARY, N.C.) PLNU Baseball improved to 3-0 in NCAA Division II World Series openers, as No. 6 seed Point Loma defeated No. 3 seed Catawba 11-5 on Saturday to jumpstart its third World Series appearance in five seasons.
The Sea Lions broke open a tie game with five runs in the top of the eighth, as
Josiah Rodriguez put PLNU in front for good with an RBI-single through the right side before back-to-back homers from
Hank Smith and
Mason Cook made it 10-5 Point Loma.
Smith then sealed the victory with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out three batters, as Point Loma reached the 50-win threshold for the second time in program history.
Catawba struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, but PLNU answered back immediately with two of its own in the top of the second.
Jake Schwartz singled on a nine-pitch at-bat and
Owen May beat out an infield single up the middle to tie the game, before the Sea Lions took their first lead with two more in the fourth.
May's sacrifice fly and
Matt Bernath's run-scoring single chased Catawba's starting pitcher Colt Wilkins (3.2 IP) in his shortest outing of his 17 starts this season.
Then with two outs in the fifth,
Jack Ryan worked a walk after being down 0-2 to load the bases for Schwartz, who was hit by a pitch on a full count to make it 5-2 Point Loma.
PLNU ace
Derek Silva (6 IP) then exited with a 5-4 lead and a runner on first in the seventh before
Vaughn Neckar (1 IP) limited the damage in his first career appearance out of the bullpen to ultimately earn his 10th win of the season.
With the game tied at 5-5 through seven, the Sea Lions erupted in the top of the eighth, as Rodriguez restored Point Loma's lead after
Tristan Moore was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second with one out.
Bernath's headfirst slide beat the throw home, which was confirmed after a lengthy replay review, before Smith's and Cook's back-to-back homers.
Bernath then rounded out the scoring with his second RBI-single of the game, as six Sea Lions had multiple hits on the day and four had at least two RBI's, helping PLNU score double-digit runs in an NCAA Division II World Series game for the second time.
Point Loma (50-11 overall) advances to play No. 2 seed Tampa on Monday at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET.
WORLD SERIES TEAM STORE
