NCAA Division III
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Laurie Turner, Athletic Director

2007 Northwest Conference Champions
 
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Pacific Lutheran Univ.
Tacoma, WA 98447
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Feb. 27, 2007

BASEBALL: Green Breaks Record; Baseball Wins Both Games at Classic

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran baseball team will travel to California this weekend to take on Menlo College. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday and play a single nine-inning game starting at noon on Sunday.

YAMHILL CLASSIC: Last week the PLU baseball team traveled down to Oregon to play in the Yamhill County Baseball Classic. The first game turned into a slugfest with the Lutes coming out on top, 18-16, over the University of British Columbia. Lots of crooked numbers went on the scoreboard in the first three innings as the Lutes scored three in the first, two in the second and three more in the third inning. British Columbia did the Lutes six runs better, scoring five in the first, two in the second and seven times in the third inning to take a 14-8 lead. Head coach Geoff Loomis had this to say about the team. "One of the great traits of our team is that never quit attitude." PLU pitcher Matt Keller, who struggled in relief in the third, recorded scoreless innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to keep the Lutes in the game. "I know that we have one of the best defenses in the country so I know if I can throw strikes our defense is going to play great behind me and I have a ton of confidence in them," said Keller. The offense responded and the Lutes took the lead, 15-14, with a six-run seventh inning, highlighted by Green’s third homer of the game. The three-run shot to straightaway center field was Green's fifth home run this season. "He (Green) came up in a spot where we were down three and hit a three-run home run in the seventh," said Loomis. UBC regained the advantage by scoring single tallies in the seventh and eighth innings, leading to the Lutes’ game-winning rally in the ninth. Kris Hansen singled to left field with two outs to tie the score, and after a walk to Brandon Sales loaded the bases, Simon smashed a one-hopper up the middle to give the Lutes an 18-16 lead. Justin Whitehall, an outfielder who in 2006 led the Lutes with five saves, worked a scoreless ninth inning, striking out two batters, to notch his first save of the 2007 campaign. "None of us felt like we were ever going to be out of the game no matter what the score was," said Loomis. The next game again saw a high score for the Lutes, but in the case the opponent, Concordia-Portland, couldn’t keep pace in an 11-1 PLU win. "We got in the vans and drove to McMinville and just continued what we did in the first game," said Loomis. "We put up another ten-plus hit game against a good team." Pacific Lutheran scored a run in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk and added three in the third inning, highlighted by run-scoring double by Justin Whitehall. Three of the Lutes’ first four runs came on Concordia wildness – two bases-loaded walks and a bases-loaded hit by pitch. The Lutes took a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning on a throwing error and a run-scoring single by Logan Andrews. While the Lutes were building a lead, starting pitcher Joe DiPietro was cruising through the Cavaliers’ order. He ended up allowing one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out two to improve his pitching record to 2-1. Trey Watt worked the final three innings to earn his first save. He allowed four hits while walking one and striking out one. The Lutes closed out the scoring with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings before putting up three runs in the eighth inning.

GREEN BREAKS RECORD: Senior Tyler Green broke the single-game record for home runs in a game when he belted three long balls against British Columbia last weekend at the Yamhill County Classic. Over the weekend Green totaled three hits in eight at-bats along with seven runs batted in.

FREQUENT FLYER MILES: Pacific Lutheran makes its second long trip of the year when it travels to the San Francisco Bay Area to face the Menlo Oaks in a three-game series this coming weekend. "They (Menlo) are a team that will be looking for some redemption because last year at our place we swpet them," said Loomis. Two weeks ago, PLU traveled to Anthem, Ariz. (a Phoenix suburb) to play four games in the Arizona Desert Classic.

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