April 3, 2007

BASEBALL: Lutes Ready for Bearcats after Sweeping Bruins

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran travels to Willamette University for a doubleheader on Friday starting at noon. The Lutes and Bearcats conclude the series on Saturday with a single game starting at noon.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: Willamette comes into the series having won four of their last five and nine of their last 12. The Bearcats are 6-8 in conference games and 13-12 overall after winning two of three games from host Puget Sound last weekend. The Bearcats are hitting .277 as a team, led by Grant Yamaguchi with a .337 average. Sean Anderson provides some pop with three home runs to go along with a .297 average. Kyle Stalker leads the team in home runs with five in just 16 games, but he is hitting only .196. The Bearcats don't run a lot, having stolen just 20 bases in 25 games. On the pitching side, Jarrid Summers and Tye Sundlee both are 4-2 this season, Summers with a 4.79 earned run average and Sundlee at 4.89. Clint Moran is 2-3 with a 5.52 earned run average. In 31 innings he has struck out 37 and walked 33.

BRUINS CAUGHT HIBERNATING: The Lutes came into last weekend’s series against the George Fox in second place in the Northwest Conference while the Bruins held down the first place spot. PLU proceeded to sweep George Fox in three games by scores of 9-1, 8-3 and 10-4. With the three wins, PLU now sits in first place at 10-2 in the Northwest Conference and with a 21-6 overall record. George Fox, which had just one loss prior to the weekend series, is now 19-4 overall and 11-4 in the NWC. In all three games, PLU had outstanding pitching performances, great defense, and clutch hitting. In the opener, senior right-hander Joe DiPietro threw a complete game, allowing only three hits while striking out five and walking three to improve his season record to 7-1. PLU got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run from sophomore first baseman Jordan Post. The Lutes proceed to score one run in the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth. In the bottom of the sixth, senior second baseman Roger Guzman doubled to open up the inning and later scored on a Bruin throwing error. Senior right fielder Justin Whitehall also doubled, scoring senior centerfielder Ryan Thorne to put the Lutes up 8-0. The Bruins finally scored in the top of the seventh off of a solo home run from Dan Wentzell. PLU added one in the bottom half to complete the scoring. Post went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Whitehall was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. In the second game, PLU took care of the Bruins in 8-3 fashion. The Lutes got another strong pitching performance, this time from sophomore Hunter Simpson. Simpson went eight innings to earn the win and improve his record to 3-1. The Bruins scored first in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly. PLU responded by scoring five runs in the bottom half of the third. An RBI single from Thorne and a two-out RBI single from sophomore designated hitter Matt Akridge contributed to the scoring. GFU scored one run in the fifth off of a balk and another in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Daniel Downs. A sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Brandon Sales and a two-run home run from senior third baseman Jared Simon added to the Lutes' total. Akridge and Simon each had a pair of RBIs in the win. The Bruins and Lutes concluded the series on Sunday with a 10-4 PLU win. GFU took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Sunday, but that lead did not last long as PLU countered in the bottom half with six runs. After walking and picking off the leadoff batter, GFU pitcher Preston Langeliers walked Post and hit senior leftfielder Tyler Green. Whitehall singled to drive in Post with the first run, and Langeliers followed by hitting senior shortstop Logan Andrews with a pitch to load the bases. Green scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Kris Hansen, and Langeliers hit Sales with a pitch to again load the bases. Relief pitcher Brady Rhodes was greeted by Simon’s two-run single, and Guzman followed with a run-scoring double down the left field line. Simon scored the sixth run of the inning on a wild pitch. George Fox got two runs back in the fifth inning, but the Lutes increased their lead to 7-4 by scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the inning. PLU broke the game open with three runs in the seventh inning. With one out, Simon was hit by a pitch, Guzman walked and Thorne was hit by a pitch. Post delivered one run with a sacrifice fly, and Green singled to plate the other two. Senior pitcher Brett Brunner earned his fourth pitching win against two defeats despite giving up four runs and 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings.

DIPIETRO EARNS HONORS: For his performance in the opening game against the Bruins, DiPietro was named the Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week. He went nine innings for the Lutes, allowing just three hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out five Bruins. For the season, DiPietro is 7-1 (4-0 NWC) with a 1.52 earned-run-average in 51 innings pitched. He has also fanned 41 batters this season. In four conference starts this season totaling 34 innings, DiPietro has a a 4-0 record and a miniscule 0.79 earned run average. He certainly is on track to win his second consecutive NWC Pitcher of the Year award.

LUTES THROWING WELL: DiPietro is not the only PLU pitcher achieving success this season. In conference games, the PLU staff is leading the Northwest Conference with a 1.95 ERA. They have a 10-2 record, allowing just 91 hits, 23 walks and 23 earned runs. For the season, Brunner is 4-2 with a 1.97 ERA and opponents are batting just .247 against him. Whitehall has earned three saves in four appearances and sophomore Dylan Stanford has two saves and a 1-0 record.

THORNE RACKING UP STEALS: Thorne has stolen 23 bases this season in 26 attempts. Against George Fox, Thorne had three stolen bases in the three games and leads the conference in stolen bases, six ahead of the next player. He is on pace to break the PLU single-season record of 29 set by another great Lute centerfielder, David Sandberg, back in 1994.

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