The Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) baseball team is gearing up for the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament that starts next Monday. What’s more, the team has a guaranteed spot in the National Athletic Interscholastic Association (NAIA) playoffs after the Sea Lions clinched the program’s first GSAC title in five years — its third such title. Point Loma is 34-11 overall and has a 27-8 conference record, leading to an outright conference championship. The Sea Lions’ success this year can be attributed to a strong pitching staff and a deep batting lineup. Senior pitcher Andrew Bovich posted a perfect record (10-0) in the regular season. Thanks to Bovich’s sterling consistency on the mound, Point Loma was able to avoid a long losing streak this season, suffering only a three-game losing stretch. The offense did not have an individual standout player this season because most of the lineup had stellar seasons. The three senior outfielders, Kurt Steinhauer (.350, 11 home runs), Kaohi Downing (.348, 10 home runs) and Mike Miles each batted over .340. And despite missing most of the season, second baseman Alex Cameron hit .333 in 99 at-bats. A pair of juniors — third baseman Wes Kartch (.323) and first baseman Steven Winnick (.297) — also contributed at the plate for the Sea Lions. Utility player Travis McCleary additionally gave the offense a boost with a .323 average and nine home runs. Even if PLNU does not win the upcoming GSAC Tournament, it has clinched an automatic berth in the nationals. “It is nice to have that in the back of your mind but we are trying to get hot going into the playoffs,” said PLNU head baseball coach Joe Schaeffer. “We would rather be able to host a first-round game instead of traveling somewhere, so it is important for us to win the conference tournament.” The Sea Lions enter the postseason in relatively good physical health, with only junior Adam Herter out of action. According to Schaeffer, Herter is likely to miss the rest of the playoffs. The good news for PLNU is that second baseman Cameron has recently returned after a wrist injury that kept him out for a good portion of the year. Junior pitcher Chad Blauer also returns from an injury to help solidify the pitching staff. This season has been a major improvement over the 2008 season, when the Sea Lions finished 28-23 overall and 20-16 in the GSAC. Schaeffer said he has been pleasantly surprised with the results thus far. “I thought we had as good a team on paper as anyone and figured our pitching staff would be improved, but the questions coming into this year would be how well our new guys would do,” Schaeffer said. “They ended up playing well, which answered those questions.” Despite clinching the conference championship with three games remaining in the regular season and an automatic berth in the NAIA Tournament, the Sea Lions are still focused on the ultimate goal of a national championship. “They are hungry going into the playoffs,” Schaeffer said. “We’ve been relaxed the past few games but the players know what is in front of them and have a very businesslike attitude as they go into the conference tournament and the first round of the nationals.”