Point Loma, who in 2022 won the NCAA Division II West Region Championship, is expected to do more of the same in 2023 according to the first D2SIDA poll of the winter.
The Sea Lions, who became the first Pacific West Conference team to advance to the NCAA baseball national championship game, claimed 12 of 14 first place votes to top the poll. The other two top,tallies were given to 2022 region runner-up Azusa Pacific.
Two other PacWest teams were in the top ten. Fresno Pacific checked in at No. 9 and Concordia was tenth. The poll is voted on by Sports Information Directors in the three NCAA west region conferences, also including the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) and the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
The PacWest baseball poll will also be released this week, and you can file pretty good odds that the Sea Lions and Cougars will be at the top of that poll, too.
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PLNU went 51-10 last season, blasting school records along the way. The won two of three games against the Cougars to win the Super Regional and would then go on to win four games at the College World Series before dropping the final game, 5-3 to North Greenville.
The Cougars were 38-19 a year ago, finishing second to the Sea Lions in the PacWest standings before defeating Western Oregon and Cal State Monterey Bay in the regional tournament. Fresno Pacific finished fifth in the PacWest last year (27-23) and Concordia was third (26-23).
PacWest teams will open their seasons on February 1-2, which includes a regional rematch between APU and Cal State Monterey Bay.
Here is a look at the first regional poll of the 2023 season.
D2SIDA NCAA D-II West Region Poll--No. 1 (2022 records)
1. Point Loma (51-10)
2. Azusa Pacific (38-19)
3. Cal State Monterey Bay (38-17)
4. Cal Poly Pomona (35-19)
5. Northwest Nazarene (31-23)
6. Chico State (34-15)
7. Western Oregon (34-20)
8. Cal State Dominguez Hills (28-27)
9. Fresno Pacific (27-23)
10. Concordia (26-23)
Receiving Votes--
Biola, Cal State San Bernardino, Montana State Billings.