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Pacific Lutheran Univ.
Tacoma, WA 98447
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March 4, 2008

BASEBALL: After NWC Split, Lutes Head South to Face Boxers

THIS WEEK: Pacific (2-5, 1-3 NWC) hosts Pacific Lutheran (4-3-2, 2-2) in a doubleheader, Saturday, 11 a.m.; Pacific hosts PLU in a doubleheader, Sunday, 11 a.m.

ABOUT THE BOXERS: Pitching has caused the biggest issues for a Pacific team picked to finish seventh in the Northwest Conference. Through 48 innings pitched, the Boxer pitching staff has a 7.12 earned run average, allowing 74 hits and 24 walks. This equates to over two base runners per inning pitched, and bodes well for a Pacific Lutheran team hitting .314 with a .431 on base percentage. The Lutes will look to continue their patient approach at the plate, forcing the Pacific pitchers to throw strikes. Pacific has one more game before the weekend series, Tuesday afternoon against Corban.

OFFENSIVE DEFENSE: Pacific Lutheran’s biggest struggle thus far has been its defense. After finishing at the top of Division III in fielding last season, the Lutes have committed 17 errors in nine games so far this year. Weather has played a major role in this issue, as the Lutes have not had much of an opportunity to practice outside due to the Pacific Northwest winter weather. Also, since the Lutes are such a young team this season, with seven new position starters, the defensive miscues are more likely early in the season. PLU’s 17 errors have led to a total of 10 unearned runs through nine games, but Pacific’s defense has been far more atrocious. Although the Boxers’ 14 errors in seven games are only slightly more per game than the Lutes, Pacific’s fielding miscues have led to 18 unearned runs, more than 2.5 per game.

LAST YEAR: Pacific Lutheran swept Pacific in the three-game series in Parkland last season. The Lutes won the games by scores of 7-5, 20-3 and 4-2, serving as the beginning of a stretch in which PLU won 25 of 27 games.

ABOUT THE LUTES: Through nine games, the Lutes have shown a penchant for solid, patient hitting. Led by Brandon Sales and his .405 average, the Lutes have three hitters with double-digit hits at this point: Sales (15), Jordan Post (11) and Ryan Aratani (10). Carl Benton leads the team in one of the most painful categories for a hitter with 10 hit-by-pitches. Offensively, the only aspect of the game in which the Lutes have yet to excel is power, with only 22 of their 93 hits going for extra bases. This will likely improve as the weather warms up and the balls start to fly further off the bat. In terms of pitching, freshman Bret Handy leads the team with 12.2 innings pitched after an outstanding 8.2-inning debut start Saturday against Linfield. Hunter Simpson’s 0.82 earned run average and .154 opponents’ batting average is the lowest among pitchers with at least five innings pitched, and his nine strikeouts are tied with Robert Bleecker for the most on the team. As a team, the Lutes have a 4.83 earned run average, which should only improve as the pitchers reach mid-season form and the defense warms up.

RANKINGS DROP LUTES: After the weekend split with Linfield, the Lutes dropped out of the d3baseball.com top 25 rankings. Pacific Lutheran received 64 votes, which essentially ranks the team no. 27.

CONSTRUCTION MOVES SERIES: Construction delays have forced Pacific to move this weekend’s four-game series with the Lutes to Joe Etzel Field at the University of Portland. The games will still begin at 11:00 a.m., and all four games will be held as scheduled. Anyone planning to make the trip to Portland is advised to arrive early as parking will be very limited due to the 5A/6A high school state basketball championships taking place at the Chiles Center next to the field. (Pacific University press release with Mapquest map to University of Portland - http://www.goboxers.com/news/detail.cfm?NEWS_ID=4459&CATEGORY_ID=17.)

LUTES SPLIT FOUR-GAME SERIES:
Saturday - Pacific Lutheran got a strong pitching performance from freshman Bret Handy in the second game to split a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader with the Linfield Wildcats. Linfield rode Brian Kerr’s three-run homer to a 6-4 victory in the first game before Handy handcuffed the Wildcats in the nightcap, 8-1. Handy allowed only the one earned run on seven hits while striking out two and walking three in 8 2/3 innings. He left the game only after Kerr’s pinch hit base hit drove in the Wildcats’ only run of the second game with two outs in the ninth inning. Trey Watt came in to get the final out and wrap up the PLU victory. The Lutes scored a run in the second inning on singles by Geoff Gabler and Tyler Goarck and a sacrifice fly by Matt Wolford, then broke the game open with four runs more in the third against Linfield starter and loser Garrett Dorn. Brandon Sales and Jordan Post singled to start the inning, and both scored on a double by Kris Hansen. With the bases loaded, Goarck’s ground ball was thrown away, allowing more runs to score. PLU added two runs in the seventh inning on Carl Benton’s RBI double and Ben Shively’s run-scoring single, and then finished its scoring in the eighth when Sales walked and eventually tallied on a passed ball. In the opener, the Wildcats scored a run in the second before posting a big five-run outburst in the third inning, with Kerr being at the heart of both rallies. He doubled and scored on Jordan Boustead’s two-out double in the second, then clubbed a three-run homer to right-centerfield an inning later. Drew Van Cleave started the third with a long homer to left before Kerr hit his two-out drive. After three innings the Wildcats had collected six runs on 10 hits against PLU starter and loser Ian Opsal. He was relieved by Hunter Simpson, who threw six hitless innings to allow the Lutes to get back into the contest. Hansen hit a homer for the team’s first run, and they added another an inning later when Sales singled to drive in Shively. PLU cut its deficit to 6-3 in the sixth when Benton hit a leadoff double and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Matt Akridge. The Lutes added their final run in the eighth inning courtesy of a hit batter, a single and a Linfield error, but that was all they could muster.

Sunday - Pacific Lutheran scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the first game, 5-4, before falling in the second game by the same final score when Linfield rallied to go ahead in the top of the seventh. The first game was an ugly affair as the teams combined for seven errors, 10 walks, five hit batsmen and five unearned runs.
The first five innings were relatively smoothly as Pacific Lutheran starting pitcher Robert
Bleecker settled down after giving up a first-inning run to hold the Wildcats scoreless in the next four frames. After leadoff hitter Jordan Boustead walked and stole second base, catcher Drew Van Cleave singled to drive home the leftfielder for a 1-0 lead. The Lutes finally broke through in the fifth inning against Linfield starter Reese McCulley to even the game at 1-1, when first baseman Jordan Post hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and one out to drive home Tyler Libadia. In the top of the sixth inning, David Bachofner reached after being hit by a Bleecker pitch. An error loaded the bases, and a walk to Kevin Mills forced Bachofner home for the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the frame, however, the Lutes took advantage of a couple of Wildcats’ defensive miscues to take a 4-2 lead going into the final frame. With the bases loaded and no outs, Kyle Mosbrucker threw a wild pitch that allowed all three PLU runners to advance, tying the score at 2-2. After Matt Akridge walked to load the bases once again, Sam Beatty hit a sacrifice fly to give the Lutes a one-run lead. But after another walk to load the bases, a throwing error by the catcher scored Akridge to give the Lutes a 4-2 lead. In the top of the final frame, another fielding error by the Lutes allowed runners to reach second and third. Singles by Van Cleave and Bachofner drove home a couple more Linfield runs, tying the game at 4-4 and forcing the Lutes to bat in the bottom of the seventh. The Lutes started out the bottom of the inning with a couple of walks. Ryan Aratani hit a sharp one-hopper to third baseman Shannon Chung, who was playing in to prevent a bunt. Chung threw to Bachofner covering at third base for the first out, but when Bachofner tried to throw back to first for the double play, his throw was wide and rolled into right field. Carl Benton, running from first on the play, scored the winning run, barely reaching around Van Cleave's tag to touch the plate for the 5-4 victory. In the second game, the Wildcats scored three runs on three hits in the first inning against Post, the PLU starting pitcher. Cory Ellis hit a double to lead off and Van Cleave drew a walk. Ellis scored on Bachofner's single, and Van Cleave and Bachofner tallied on Rhett Fenton's double. The Lutes tied the game in the third with a pair of two-out runs, the first scoring on a Brandon Sales single and the next two coming in on Post's single to right. Linfield scored again in the fourth inning, taking advantage of Pacific Lutheran’s only defensive miscue of the second game. The Lutes got the run back in the bottom of the frame when Tyler Goarck singled home Matt Wolford from second base. In the top of the seventh, Van Cleave once again came through in the clutch for the Wildcats, hitting a single to drive in Chung with what proved to be the winning run. Joshua Guterman retired the Lutes in order in the bottom of the inning to preserve the victory for Linfield.

- PLU -