NCAA Division III
Northwest Conference
Laurie Turner, Athletic Director

2007 Northwest Conference Champions
 
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Pacific Lutheran Univ.
Tacoma, WA 98447
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April 30, 2007

BASEBALL: Lutes Win First-Ever Northwest Conference Title

CONFERENCE CHAMPS...: The Pacific Lutheran baseball team wrapped up its first-ever Northwest Conference baseball title, and the program's first championship of any kind since winning back-to-back Evergreen Conference crowns in 1953-54, when it swept Puget Sound in a three-game Northwest Conference series. The three wins gave the Lutes a conference record of 21-3, two games ahead of second place George Fox.

...AND REGIONAL PARTICIPANTS: As a result of winning the title, the Lutes receive the NWC's bid to the NCAA regional tournament scheduled for May 16-20 at a site to be determined. This will mark the first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for a PLU baseball team. The announcement of where the Lutes are to play and the other teams in their regional tournament will not come until May 13. In the meantime, PLU will take a few days off before getting back to practice in preparation for postseason play.

GAME ONE NOTES: In the first game against Puget Sound, the Lutes gave pitching ace Joe DiPietro all of the runs he needed when they scored five runs in the third inning, and they played add-on to wrap up the 10-4 victory. The Lutes collected 15 hits in the game, including four by Jordan Post, three by Jared Simon and two each by Ryan Thorne and Bryce DePew. Simon rocked his fifth homer of the season in the fifth inning. Despite getting hit on the ankle by a line drive, DiPietro went the distance for the fifth time in eight conference starts. He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits while walking three and striking out 10. The number 10 was special for DiPietro as this win gave him 10 for the season (against two losses), setting a new PLU single-season record. The right-handed senior from Yakima had shared the record with Brian Farman, who won nine games back in 1999. When first baseman Post speared a line drive and doubled the runner off of first base in the ninth inning, the Lutes had the win that clinched at least a tie for the conference crown. Because the Lutes held a tiebreaker advantage over George Fox, the players knew they had stamped their ticket to regionals, setting off a mad rush to the pitcher's mound where the players piled on top of one another in celebration.

GAME TWO: With the victory celebration out of the way, the Lutes got back to business in Saturday's second game. Pacific Lutheran got its second consecutive strong pitching performance from Kael Fisher in beating the Loggers, 16-2. The senior, who threw a complete-game four-hit shutout last Saturday against Whitworth, allowed only one run on four hits in six innings of work to improve his record to 5-0. Three relief pitchers threw an inning each to close out the game. In total, the Loggers managed nine hits against the four PLU hurlers. Meanwhile, the Lutes got to Puget Sound starter Ryan Gustafson for six two-out runs on six hits in the first inning. Tyler Green hit an RBI double and Justin Whitehall and Kris Hansen both followed with run-scoring singles. Brandon Sales drove in two more runs with a base hit, and Roger Guzman, who led off with a single, capped the rally with a RBI single. The Lutes continued to pound the ball, producing a total of 18 hits against six different Puget Sound pitchers. Green, Hansen and Sales all had three hits, and Sales drove in four runs.

THIRD GAME: With the score tied 1-1 in Sunday's series finale, the Lutes broke things open by scoring four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. As they have done many times this season, the Lutes scored all of their runs in the fifth with two outs. Logan Andrews led off with a single and reached third with two outs when Jared Simon walked. Roger Guzman drove in Andrews with a single, and Ryan Thorne followed with a base hit that scored Simon and sent Guzman to third base. Thorne then stole second base, his 69th career steal, moving him past Tony Whitley (1974-76) and into first on the PLU career list. Jordan Post, whose single scored Thorne with the Lutes' first-inning run, then knocked in two more with another base hit. An inning later, the Lutes added three more runs on a run-scoring single by Andrews, a RBI triple by Brandon Sales and a ground out. After PLU scored once in the seventh inning to make it 9-1, the Loggers came back to score once in both the eighth and ninth innings. Brett Brunner threw seven innings of three-hit ball to improve his pitching record to 7-2. Jordan Post, who had a big series for PLU, had three hits and three RBI in this one. Guzman, Thorne and Andrews each added a pair of hits for the Lutes.

CONFERENCE HONORS POST: As mentioned, Jordan Post had a big three-game series for the Lutes, and as a result the Northwest Conference named the sophomore from Beaverton, Ore., as its Player of the Week. Post finished the series 8-for-13 (.615 average) with three runs scored and five RBI.

FIELDING PERCENTAGE: Pacific Lutheran was ranked No. 1 in fielding percentage in last week’s NCAA Division III baseball statistics. At the time that the stats were released, the Lutes had compiled a .976 fielding percentage and ranked just ahead of Northwest Conference foe George Fox, which has a .975 fielding percentage. Pacific Lutheran was nationally ranked in six team categories and a total of five Lute players were ranked on seven individual lists.

MASTER THIEF: Earlier this season, senior centerfielder Ryan Thorne broke the program’s single-season record for stolen bases when he swiped number 30, sending him past David Sandberg, who had 29 steals in 1994. Thorne added two more steals against Whitworth and three against Puget Sound to push his record-setting mark to 35 (in 40 attempts) this year. As mentioned in an earlier note, he also established a new career record when he swiped second base in Sunday's game, giving him 69 and moving him past Tony Whitley (1974-76).

WHITEHALL PUTS HIS NAME IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Justin Whitehall has entered the record books as the all-time career leader in RBIs, passing Jason Chennault who had 104 RBIs between 1997 and 2000. This season, Whitehall is hitting .286 with 42 hits, 10 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs, and he has 112 RBI in his career.

ANOTHER RECORD FOR THE BOOKS: The 2007 has been a record-setting one for the Lutes, and one of the records that may not be broken for awhile is the one for wins in a season. PLU is 32-7 heading into the regional tournament, blasting away the old record of 26 wins set by the 1994 team.

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