Feb. 4, 2007

Lutes Open Baseball Season With Twinbill Sweep

Game One
Game Two

Justin Whitehall

Roger Guzman

TACOMA, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran opened the 2007 baseball season Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader from visiting Saint Martin’s. The Lutes won the seven-inning opener, 3-2, and rallied in the bottom of the eighth to win the nine-inning second game, 7-6.

The Lutes had big hits from a pair of seniors at clutch times in both games. In the opener, Justin Whitehall hit a homer for the winning run, and in the second game Roger Guzman ripped a two-run double for the deciding tallies.

The Lutes took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the opener when Tyler Green scored on a balk and Guzman came home on a double by Logan Andrews. Green led off the inning with a walk and Guzman reached when hit by a pitch.

The Saints tied the score in the top of the fifth inning, making the most of two hits and a PLU error to score a pair of unearned runs.

The game was tied in the bottom of the sixth inning when Whitehall, the senior rightfielder from Lake Oswego, Ore., led off the frame with a solo homer to right field.

Brett Brunner, who entered the game in the sixth inning for starting pitcher Joe DiPietro, escaped trouble in the top of the seventh, coaxing a ground out from Nathan Baker with the potential tying run on third base. DiPietro and Brunner limited the Saints to four hits, but they combined to allow eight walks while striking out four.

In the second game, Pacific Lutheran came back from a 2-1 deficit to take a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Green and Jared Simon sandwiched walks around a single by Guzman. With the bases loaded and one out, Ryan Thorne singled sharply to center, driving in Green with the tying run. Guzman scored on a bases loaded walk to Andrews, and Simon came in when Whitehall grounded out to second base.

Saint Martin’s regained the lead in the seventh inning, scoring four runs on five hits. Curtis Thibault and Andy Cole had back-to-back RBI singles, and Baker finished the rally with a two-run single through the left side of the infield.

Facing a 6-4 deficit going into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Lutes rallied for the victory. Whitehall drew a leadoff walk and Chris Bowen singled. With one out, Green was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Brandon Sales drove in Whitehall with a fly ball to right field, bringing Guzman to the plate with two outs. The senior second baseman from Yakima delivered, hitting a double to the left-centerfield gap to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Andrews, who in the eighth inning moved from shortstop to become PLU's sixth pitcher of the game, earned the victory for the Lutes. He allowed a two-out single to Baker, but struck out Adam Siler for the final out.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action at 1 p.m. next Sunday when it plays the Puget Sound Loggers in a non-conference game at the UPS field.

- PLU -