Feb. 18, 2008

Lutes Fall to Redlands in 11 Innings in California Finale

Line Score

Kris Hansen - two hits, two RBI

REDLANDS, Calif. - Redlands scored an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, and then scored the winning run on three singles in the 11th as the Bulldogs defeated Pacific Lutheran, 7-6, in a non-conference baseball game played Sunday afternoon.

The Lutes concluded their four-day, five-game California road trip with two wins, one loss and two ties.

PLU took the early lead, notching two runs in the second inning without benefit of a hit. The Lutes put the rally together on two hit batters, a sacrifice, a wild pitch and a fielder's choice. After Redland took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, the Lutes rallied for two more runs in the seventh on Kris Hansen's two-run double. Again, the Bulldogs took the lead, scoring two more times in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Trailing 5-4 entering the ninth inning, PLU scored a pair of runs to take a 6-5 lead. Tyler Libadia led off with a single and went to third on Matt Wolford's double. Brandon Sales singled to score Libadia, and Wolford tallied the go-ahead run on Jordan Post's sacrifice fly.

That set up Redlands' tying run in the ninth and the game winner in the 11th.

PLU managed just eight hits, with Hansen the only Lute batter with more than one hit to his credit. Starting pitcher Bret Brunner went 4 1/3 innings in his first outing of the season, giving up one run on four hits while walking one and fanning two. Brunner came out of the game when he was hit in the face by a line drive, and he is out for an indefinite time period. Bret Handy, who took the loss, was the final of PLU's four pitchers in the game. Handy went 1 2/3 innings, giving up the one run on three hits while walking two and striking out one.

The Lutes return to action on March 1-2 with a four-game Northwest Conference series against Linfield. PLU is the defending Northwest Conference champion and Linfield has been picked as the preseason favorite by the conference coaches. The teams will play a pair of nine-inning games on March 1 before concluding the series with two seven-inning games the following day.

- PLU -