March 22, 2008

Offensive Onslaught Give PLU Sweep of Bearcats

Game One
Game Two

Ryan Aratani - two hits in each game

SALEM, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran pounded a total of 28 hits in 14 innings of offense and swept a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader from Willamette on Saturday at John Lewis Field. The Lutes won the opener 8-5 and took the second game 12-6.

The Lutes ended up taking three-of-four games in the series to improve their season record to 11-8-2 and their conference mark to 9-7. Willamette is now 10-11 for the season and 6-6 in conference counters.

Brett Brunner was the beneficiary of the Lutes' offensive surge in the first game. The senior lefthander improved to 1-2 this season, giving up two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out seven in five innings of work.

He gave up those two runs in the first inning on the first of Kyle Stalker's two home runs. Stalker finished the game with 14 homers, giving him a new Willamette single-season record.

The Lutes took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third inning on Jordan Post's three-run homer, his fourth round-tripper of the season. They added two more runs in the fourth inning on doubles by Tyler Libadia, Carl Benton and Brandon Sales, and finished the scoring with single tallies in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Libadia hit a run-producing single in the fifth, Sales lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Sammy Davis had a RBI base hit in the seventh.

Sales finished the game with two hits and two RBI, and Libadia, Benton and Ryan Aratani all collected a pair of hits for the Lutes.

For the third time in the four-game series, PLU had a big first inning, scoring six runs in Saturday's second contest. The Lutes managed just three hits during the uprising, but they also benefitted from Willamette's largesse as the Bearcats committed five errors in the inning.

Pacific Lutheran scored two more runs in the second and three in the third on the way to the victory. Trey Watt pitched five innings to improve his record to 2-1. The right-handed sophomore gave up three runs on six hits while fanning eight Bearcats. Nic Delikat worked the final two innings and recorded four more strikeouts.

The Lutes had 15 hits in the game including two each by Post, Hansen, Aratani and Davis. Post scored three runs and Hansen scored two and drove in two more.

The defending conference champion Lutes return to action next weekend, hosting the George Fox Bruins in a four-game Northwest Conference series. The teams will play a pair of nine-inning games starting at noon on Saturday, and then will play two seven-inning contests starting at noon on Sunday.

- PLU -