Point Loma Nazarene beats Cal Poly Pomona to reach Super Regionals

Cal Poly Pomona’s hope Saturday in the NCAA Division II regionals was to beat Point Loma Nazarene in a midday game and force a deciding contest in the afternoon.

PLNU first baseman Jake Entrekin made sure that didn’t happen.

Entrekin hit two home runs and tied a school record with eight RBIs, leading the Sea Lions to a 12-4 win over Cal Poly Pomona that secured the West Regionals #1 championship at PLNU’s Carroll B. Land Stadium.

Entrekin had a three-run homer in the first inning, a grand slam in the fourth and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

“Jake put a couple of humongous swings on the ball,” PLNU coach Justin James said. “Eight RBIs. That’s why he hits in our four hole. He’s a threat every time he comes up.”

Pomona coach Randy Betten said the PLNU homers — which included third baseman Bryson Hashimoto’s two-run shot in the seventh — “really kind of broke our backs.”

PLNU’s Jake Entrekin watches one of his home runs leave the ballpark against Cal Poly Pomona.

(Micah Cunningham / PLNU Athletics)

Entrekin’s sacrifice fly for his eighth RBI enabled him too join Micah Pries (2018) and Rashad Taylor (2010) for the PLNU single-game RBI record.

The win over Pomona (32-24) advances PLNU (43-10-1) to the NCAA Division II Super Regionals. The Sea Lions will host Cal State Monterey Bay (38-19) in a best-of-three series scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Monterey Bay beat San Francisco State twice — 18-5 and 9-5 — on Saturday to win West Regional #2.

The eight Super Regional winners advance to the NCAA Division II Championships in Cary, N.C.

The Sea Lions are bidding to return to the championships for the second time in three years. PLNU was 2022 national runner-up.

Entrekin, a junior from Steele Canyon High School, staked the Sea Lions to a 3-0 in the first inning with his first homer.

“That was pretty good to get going out of the gate,” he said. “You’re always trying to score first ... You’ve got to try to not let the lights get too bright early in the game and just put a good swing on the ball. That one felt pretty good.”

His grand slam in a six-run fourth inning broke open a two-run game as PLNU took a commanding 9-1 lead.

Before he stepped to the plate, Entrekin observed Pomona pitcher Evan Adolphus from the on-deck circle and noticed the right-hander “nibbling a little bit.”

“I just wanted to make sure I was getting a good pitch to swing at,” Entrekin said. “Once I saw it, it was just get a barrel on it.”

That, he did.

Entrekin now has 14 homers on the season, one behind Scott Anderson’s team lead.

Point Loma Nazarene right-hander Ray Cebulski picked up his ninth win after pitching 6 1/3 innings.

(Micah Cunningham / PLNU Athletics)

All the offense made the job easy for PLNU starting pitcher Ray Cebulski (9-1). The junior right-hander from Eastlake High School allowed four hits and one earned run over 6 1/3 innings with one strikeout.

“We didn’t pitch him as much in the conference tournament,” James said of Cebulski. “He’s been waiting. He’s been trying to get better. He came out and was down in the zone the entire time. He was electric.”

This is PLNU’s second chance to host a Super Regional.

“I’m excited for some of these guys who haven’t been here before to get to experience this,” James said.