LEWISTON, Idaho – Behind the complete-game, six-hitter by Chad Blauer, No. 9 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (39-18-1) handled No. 8 Belhaven (Miss.) (43-16) by a score of 9-1 in Game 2 of the Avista-NAIA World Series from Harris Field. Point Loma Nazarene will take on No. 1 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Saturday at 7 p.m. PDT. Belhaven falls into the double-elimination losers’ bracket and plays at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Blauer cruised until the seventh inning. Up to that point, he gave up three harmless singles, one double and struck out eight. However, he ran into minor trouble in the top half of the seventh. He gave up two straight singles to start the inning. One of those runners, Paul Moreno scored on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Gilford. But at that point, Blauer had the luxury of a 6-1 lead.

After a single run in the first inning, Point Loma Nazarene threw up two runs on the board in the fifth. Steven Winnick had an RBI-groundout before Wes Kartch scored on a bobble by the second baseman off a single. That was plenty of offense for Blauer, the senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., as the Sea Lions led 3-0.

For insurance, the Sea Lions tacked on three in the sixth inning and three in the eighth. Belhaven would not threaten in the late innings going down in order in both of the final two frames.

The win moved Point Loma Nazarene to 11-8 all-time in the World Series.

Tyler Kuehl went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for Point Loma Nazarene. His double was a team-leading 25^th on the season. Rashad Taylor and Karth also had three hits and runs scored apiece. Overall, the Sea Lions compiled 12 hits, including four doubles.

Belhaven lead-off hitter Drew Dillard went 2-for-5 to lead the offense. The Blazers had their scoring opportunities, but left nine runners on base.

Blauer ended with 11 strikeouts and allowed just one walk in 9.0 innings. He gave up one earned run on the six hits. He finished his day with 129 pitches to improve to 12-2. It was his team-leading fourth complete game of the season.

Brant Hinton lost his first game of the year (12-1) after he went 7 1/3 innings. He allowed nine runs, seven earned, on 12 hits.

This is the first appearance for Belhaven in the World Series.

GAME NOTES: Point Loma Nazarene has now won three straight First Round games in the World Series… In their last three events, the Sea Lions are now 8-4… Since 2003, the No. 9 seed improves to 2-6 in the Opening Game of the World Series... There were a combined seven errors (four by Point Loma Nazarene; three by Belhaven); the most combined since 2006, when Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and Seton Hill (Pa.) combined for eight miscues… Belhaven entered the game with an 8.3 runs per game average in its last 10 games.