A year ago, Point Loma Nazarene University's baseball program went 11-21 and nothing really went their way.
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
The Sea Lions blasted their way to an NCAA Division-II Baseball Tournament regional title by sweeping Northwest Nazarene 7-4 and 21-5 on Friday afternoon on the San Diego coast, running its season record to an absurd 46-7.
Leadoff hitter Otto Kemp set the tone twice, leading off both games with a home run. Baxter Halligan also went deep in the first game to back sophomore Dylan Miller, who turned in a quality start with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed in 6.0 innings of work to get the win.
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After Kemp led off the second game with another homer everyone else decided they might as well start hitting bombs, too. Scott Anderson, the very next hitter, also hit a dinger. Five hitters later Jack Malone ripped a 3-run shot to give PLNU a 5-0 lead.
That was just an appetizer.
Hunter Otjen hammered a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning Malone hit another solo homer and Otjen blasted a 3-run big fly to centerfield that made it 14-2 Sea Lions. In the 7th inning Kemp hit his 3rd of the day, and the 7th home run of the game for Point Loma.
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PLNU sweeps its way through the regional and will host the Super-Regional next weekend, needing just two wins to reach the D-2 College World Series. They'll play either Cal State-Monterey Bay or Azusa Pacific in a best-of-3 series starting on Friday.
