POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
(CARY, N.C.) No. 6 seed PLNU Baseball pushed two-time defending national champions and No. 2 seed Tampa to the end before the Spartans held on to defeat the Sea Lions, 2-1, in the NCAA Division II World Series.
Point Loma will now play an elimination game on Tuesday against No. 3 seed Catawba at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET with a semifinal spot on the line.
Devin Norton threw seven stellar innings to keep the Sea Lions in it, allowing just a single run in the top of the second inning.
Tristan Moore made a sensational diving catch against the wall to save an early run before
Josiah Rodriguez and
Mason Cook turned a remarkable 5-2-3 double play to strand the bases loaded in the third.
Norton then completed seven innings for the fifth straight start and was nearly in line for the win after
Jack Ryan's long flyball to left field in the bottom of the seventh was caught at the wall with the wind blowing in.
Jake Schwartz and
Owen May then walked with two outs to load the bases, but UT got out of the jam unscathed to maintain its one-run lead.
However, Point Loma tied it up in the eighth when Ryan put the ball in play with two outs and the bases loaded to score Moore from third, before the Spartans caught the Sea Lions in a rundown to keep it 1-1 going into the final frame.
Tampa then scored an unearned run in the ninth which proved to be the difference in a game of the finest of margins, with PLNU also putting runners into scoring position in the second and fifth innings.
Point Loma (50-12 overall) now has a rematch against Catawba (48-13), who beat No. 7 seed Bentley 15-8 in an elimination game earlier on Monday.
The winner between PLNU and CC will advance to play Tampa on Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET, needing to beat the Spartans twice to advance to the championship series.
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