Point Loma Nazarene opens Division II championship run with game against Indiana (Pa.)

The Point Loma Nazarene baseball team has displayed the resolve and resilience this season necessary to position the Sea Lions for a run at the national championship for the second time in three years.

The 2024 NCAA Division II baseball championship series begins Saturday with eight teams competing in the double-elimination tournament.

The field is divided into a pair of four-team brackets with the winners meeting for the national championship.

Fourth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene and No. 5 seed Indiana (Pa.) take the field at 10:30 a.m. PT to open the tourney at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Here’s a glance at the two teams before they take the field Saturday morning:

About Point Loma Nazarene (45-11-1): This is the second trip to the championship series for the Sea Lions, who finished runner-up for the 2022 national championship.

PLNU defeated Cal State Monterey Bay in last week’s Super Regionals, overcoming a first-game loss to win the second game in 13 innings 10-8 before a 7-1 clinching victory in the deciding third game.

Senior SS Scott Anderson was named NCAA Division II West Region Player of the Year this week after leading the Sea Lions with a .400 batting average, 15 home runs and 66 RBIs.

Anderson was joined with all-West Region honors by three other hitters in the PLNU lineup — OF Eric Smelko (.372, 12 HR, 53 RBIs), DH Jake Entrekin (.372, 15 HR, 64 RBIs) and 2B Esai Santos (.354, 10 HR, 52 RBIs). Sea Lions RHPs Dylan Miller (11-2, 3.48 ERA, 90 SO in 101 IP) and James Sashin (1-1, 3.13 ERA, 17 SV, 41 SO in 37.1 IP) also were recognized.

Miller has been PLNU’s series-opening starter throughout the season and figures to get the ball here. Behind him in the rotation are RHPs Austyn Coleman (9-1, 4.30 ERA) and Ray Cebulski (10-1, 3.77 ERA).

Another key PLNU player is OF/RHP Hunter Otjen (.267, 6 H, 36 RBIs / 2-1, 4.00 ERA), who came in from the outfield to make 13 relief appearances this season.

About Indiana (Pa.) (38-16): The Crimson Hawks are making their first trip to the championship series after beating Seton Hall with victories in Games 2 and 3 in the best-of-three Super Regionals.

Indiana set a school record for victories this season. How far has the program come? Three years ago, the Crimson Hawks won just two games.

Coach Steve Kline was hired after that 2021 season. Kline is a former major league pitcher who spent 11 seasons in the big leagues with five franchises.

Indiana has the fewest home runs (28) of among the eight teams playing for the championship. Most of the power comes from 2B Harrison Pontoli (.297, 8 HR, 44 RBIs). Other offensive leaders are OF Ricardo Aponte (.325, 3 HR, 46 RBIs) and 1B Brady Yard (.323, 4 HR, 36 RBIs).

The strongest part of the Indiana pitching staff is its starting rotation, with RHPs Mark Edeburn (7-2, 3.63 ERA), Jake Black (4-3, 4.02 ERA) and Derrick Shields (7-3, 5.05 ERA).