April 1, 2008

BASEBALL: After Snowy Weekend Series, Lutes to Host Menlo

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (13-10-2 overall, 11-9 NWC) hosts Menlo (16-8) in a doubleheader, Saturday, noon; PLU hosts Menlo, Sunday, noon.

ABOUT THE OAKS: Menlo enters the series with a 16-8 overall record, in spite of having outscored its opponents by a total of only nine runs this season. The Oaks are a patient offensive team, with a .407 team on base percentage, led by junior Kyle Cowgill’s .485. In limited action this season, Cowgill has hit .393 with a team-high five homeruns in only 56 at bats. His .750 slugging percentage also leads the team. Junior Rob Monderine and seniors Chris Budelli and Robert McDonald have started every one of Menlo’s 24 games this season, and the three rank first, second and third on the team in runs batted in. All three have batting averages above .300, and McDonald and Budelli are currently tied for the team lead with 10 doubles this season. The Oaks are an aggressive team on the base paths, having stolen 33 bases in 38 attempts this year. Defensively, however, Menlo has allowed 30 stolen bases in only 34 attempts. The Oaks’ pitching staff is anchored by senior Mike Ryder, who leads the team with six wins and a 2.59 earned run average. Ryder has started seven games this season and has completed five of them. Menlo boasts an excellent starting rotation, with 11 complete game performances through 24 games this season. A key to the series for the Lutes will be wearing out the Menlo starters and getting into the Oaks’ bullpen, which has not performed nearly as well.

LAST SEASON’S SERIES: The Lutes traveled south to Atherton, Calif., to sweep the Oaks in three games, 4-3, 8-6 and 13-6.

ABOUT THE LUTES: Pacific Lutheran boasts a .299 team batting average and .408 on base percentage through 25 games this season. Despite outscoring opponents by 35 runs, the Lutes have only three more wins than losses this season. This can be attributed to the fact that the Lutes have fallen short in six of nine one-run games this season, as well as both two-run games they have played. With final-inning rallies to win the first two games against George Fox, the Lutes began to turn the corner in close games, and they will look to continue to improve in close games. Freshman Ryan Aratani leads the team with a .364 batting average, and his 39 total bases are second only to Jordan Posts’ 45. Post has followed up his all-Northwest Conference sophomore season with a .321 batting average, and his four homeruns, 21 runs batted in, 22 walks, .536 slugging percentage and .464 on base percentage all lead the team. Second baseman Carl Benton boasts an impressive .446 on base percentage thanks to an incredibly painful 20 hit by pitches so far this season. Pitching-wise, sophomores Robert Bleecker and Trey Watt have stepped up in the starting rotation, ranking one and two on the staff in innings pitched and throwing the Lutes’ only two complete games this season. As a team, the Lutes own a 4.94 earned run average, with 147 strikeouts in 202.1 innings pitched. One of the keys to this weekend’s series will be base running, as the Lutes have allowed 23 of 25 attempted base stealers to reach safely. On the other hand, Pacific Lutheran has only been successful in 19 of 29 attempts this season.

THREE-GAME SERIES: Since Menlo is not a Northwest Conference opponent, this weekend’s series will feature the more familiar setup of two nine-inning games on Saturday followed by one nine-inning game Sunday.

LUTES SPLIT WITH BRUINS: Pacific Lutheran won Saturday’s opener by rallying for a pair of runs in the bottom of the 11th inning. The Bruins had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning when Ryan Fobert hit a double to drive in Kyle Kuenzi, who had reached on a single and advanced to second on Matt Wyckoff’s sacrifice bunt. Brandon Sales started the winning rally with a leadoff single, and after an out he raced around the bases to score on Kris Hansen’s double to left-centerfield. The hit was Hansen’s fourth and the RBI his second of the game. Ryan Aratani followed with a single to left field, but Todd Siler’s perfect throw to Fobert at home beat Hansen for the second out of the inning. Aratani advanced to second on the play, and he slid across home plate with the winning run on Tyler Goarck’s single. For Goarck, it was his first at-bat in 20 days because of a foot injury. The game lasted nearly five hours due to the extra innings and two rain delays that totaled 90 minutes. Ian Opsal, the final of three PLU pitchers, improved his record to 2-1, giving up one run on two hits in two innings. Preston Langeliers, 0-2 this season, took the loss after giving up two runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings. Due to the length of the first game, the nightcap of the doubleheader stretched long enough that the umpires were forced to suspend the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Lutes having the bases loaded with no outs and a 5-1 deficit. When the inning resumed Sunday morning, Kris Hansen and Ryan Aratani drew bases-loaded walks and Carl Benton was hit by a pitch to make the score 5-4, and pinch hitter Tyler Libadia followed with a two-run single through the middle. Josh Takayoshi added a run-scoring single, giving PLU a 7-5 lead entering the ninth inning. The Bruins pulled within a run on Ryan Fobert’s base hit, but with the tying run on third base, Fobert was picked off of first base by Ian Opsal for the final out and a 7-6 PLU victory. Paul DiPietro (2-2) pitched one scoreless inning to pick up the win with Opsal earning his second save. George Fox came back from the disappointment of losing late leads to the Lutes in the first two games by winning both games of the Sunday doubleheader. Mark Putney, making his first start of the season, went six innings in the opener, allowing just one run on four hits while fanning six. Brian Davis earned his second save of the season, striking out two in one inning of work. Putney was locked in a pitcher’s duel with PLU’s Brett Brunner until the Bruins broke through for two runs in the sixth inning. The Bruins added three runs against Jeff Danforth in the seventh inning with Kyle Kuenzi hitting a two-run triple and then scoring on Matt Wyckoff’s sacrifice fly. PLU scored its only run of the game in the seventh when Benton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The rally ended with the potential tying run at the plate. Shane Dalgleish gave George Fox the strong second game outing, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits in five innings. The Bruins gave him support with a run in the second on Brett Tallman’s RBI double, and they added three runs in the third. The first run came in on Wyckoff’s RBI single, and Wyckoff scored the second on the back end of a double steal with Fobert. The final run scored on a PLU fielding error. The Lutes got back into the game with two runs in the fifth. Ryan Aratani doubled and later scored on a throwing error, and Matt Akridge came in on a run-scoring single by Sammy Davis. PLU had one last rally in the ninth, pulling to within 4-3 on Geoff Gabler’s RBI double. Kuenzi, who played stellar defense in centerfield throughout the series, almost ran down the drive but his diving effort came up just short when the ball tipped off the end of his glove. With the tying run on second, Brian Davis earned his second save of the day by coaxing a couple of game-ending groundouts.

LISTEN LIVE ON KCCR: The Pacific Lutheran athletic department will broadcast all baseball and softball home games this season on KCCR online student radio. Just click the link that says “LISTEN” on the Lutes’ schedule on the right side of the athletics homepage and then click the link that says Broadband (128Kbps) in the center of the KCCR homepage to tune in. The student broadcast team includes Andrew Croft, Bobby Pimentel, Chris Ramirez and Tyler Scott.

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