AZUSA, Calif. -- No. 1-seeded Point Loma Nazarene advances to the championship game of the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round play with a 7-2 victory over No. 2-seeded British Columbia Wednesday afternoon at the Cougar Baseball Complex on the campus of Azusa Pacific University. Sea Lion designated hitter Travis McCleary and catcher Tim Winslow each contributed a game-high 3 hits.
In the third inning, Sea Lion infielder Wes Kartch drove in the game's first run with a single which drifted just above the reach of Thunderbird first baseman Scott Webster. On the next at-bat, Point Loma Nazarene infielder Tyler Kuehl gave the Sea Lions a 2-0 lead with a single down the third base line.
Webster tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth for the Thunderbirds with the game's only home run, a 2-run shot to left-center field. In the bottom of the inning, Sea Lion McCleary released a line drive to the area between the infield and outfield, bringing Evan Lippow home as Point Loma Nazarene took a 3-2 lead after 4 innings.
Point Loma Nazarene twice loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth and seventh. To load the bases in the sixth, Thunderbird righthander Josh Brink hit 3 consecutive Sea Lions with pitches. Righthander Jeff Hall replaced Brink on the mound but a wild pitch on his first at-bat enabled Sea Lion outfielder Mike Miles to score the first of 3 runs in the inning. On the next at-bat, Steven Winnick sacrificed flied to center field for another run and Kuehl later singled for the final run.
British Columbia came out of the seventh inning unscathed after another no-out bases loaded situation as Thunderbird pitcher Brink kept all the hits in the infield. The Thunderbirds notched all the outs on fielder's choices.
Sea Lion starter Chris Honer pitched 8 innings with 8 strikeouts and only allowed 2 earned runs. Twelve of Point Loma Nazarene's hits were singles and catcher Winslow had 2 doubles for the other pair of hits.
Point Loma Nazarene improves to 40-11, winning 6 consecutive games and 14 of their last 16 games. With the win, the Sea Lions advances to the championship game on Thursday, at 5:30 p.m. British Columbia drops to 38-12 and will play the winner of tonight's Azusa Pacific/Biola game, also on Thursday, at 2 p.m., in an elimination game to determine Point Loma Nazarene's challenger in the championship game.
