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Pacific Lutheran Univ.
Tacoma, WA 98447
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March 6, 2007

BASEBALL: Lutes Make it Six in a Row After Slicing Oaks

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran travels to McMinnville, Ore. to open Northwest Conference action against Linfield College. The Lutes and Wildcats will play a double-header on Saturday starting at noon and will complete the series on Sunday with a single game set for noon.

LUTES SWEEP MENLO: The Lute baseball team continued its road dominance with a series sweep of the Menlo College Oaks last weekend in Atherton, Calif. The three wins against the Oaks put the Lutes winning streak at six and notched the team’s overall record to 10-3. In the first contest against Menlo, the Lutes hacked at the Oaks long enough to get the 4-3 victory. PLU got on the scoreboard first with an RBI single from senior centerfielder Ryan Thorne. Menlo tied the score up in the bottom of the second before the Lutes plated another run in the top fourth when senior infielder when sophomore designated-hitter Kris Hansen scored on a Menlo error to go ahead 2-1. In the top of the ninth with the score tied at 2-2 after an eighth inning Menlo run, senior right fielder Justin Whitehall came to the plate win one out and the bases loaded. Whitehall proceeded to hit a double to left-center, scoring sophomore pinch runner Matt Wolford and senior left fielder Tyler Green to put the Lutes on top 4-2. The Oaks only scored one run in the ninth helping PLU pull out the 4-3 win. Senior Joe DiPietro pitched great for the Lutes, going eight innings, striking out eight Oaks, and allowing just two earned runs. Sophomore Dylan Stanford picked up his first save of the season.

“I felt that was my best start of the season,” said DiPietro. “It will be good going into conference because non-conference games are sort of like spring training.”

Darkness crept over the Oaks baseball diamond in the second game, postponing the game until Sunday. The two teams were able to play seven innings before the delay. Down 2-1 in the fourth inning, the Lutes scored on an RBI single from junior Tim Young and a two-RBI double from senior third baseman Jared Simon. PLU led 4-3 until the Oaks scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh to go on top 6-5. When PLU and Menlo resumed play on Sunday, Simon’s two run homerun in the eighth and Whitehall’s RBI double in the top of the ninth put gave PLU all they needed to defeat the Oaks 8-6. Junior Jeff Danforth received his first victory of the year and Whitehall earned his second save. Simon finished 3-4, with four RBI’s and sits third in the conference in RBI’s with 13. Thorne contributed two hits to his NWC leading 17 hits.

“Our relief pitching was very good,” head coach Geoff Loomis said. “Our starting pitching was really good so I was really happy with our pitching performance.

PLU took control of the third game in a hurry. In the top of the first, PLU scored eight runs and did not look back as they cruised to a 13-6 triumph. Whitehall, senior infielder Logan Andrews, sophomore designated hitter Chris Bowen, sophomore catcher Brandon Sales, and senior infielder Roger Guzman each had an RBI in the first while sophomore first baseman Jordan Post had a two-RBI double. PLU plated two runs in the sixth inning on a two-run homerun from Whitehall and added one run in the seventh thanks to an RBI single from sophomore Matt Akridge. PLU led 11-0 until the Oaks scored four after the seventh inning stretch. Akridge drove in two more Lutes in the eighth. Sophomore transfer Hunter Simpson was the winning pitcher after going six and a-third innings. Ackridge finished 2-2 with three RBI’s and Simon, senior Logan Andrews, and Whitehall each scored twice for the successful the Lutes.

WILDCATS LOOK TO POUNCE BACK: The Lutes now face the 3-6 Linfield Wildcats tomorrow for two games and Sunday for one. The Cats are coming off of a series in which they were swept by the UPS Loggers. Don’t be fooled by Linfield’s record because a Wildcat and Lute clash is always unpredictable. PLU is hitting .301 for the season while the Cats are hitting .286. Last season PLU took two out of three games from the Cats with wins of 14-4 and 16-7 while Linfield won the final game 12-4. The Wildcats are led by junior outfielder Kevin Mills who is hitting .317 with 13 hits and 11 RBI’s. Linfield is tied with PLU in triples hit this season at four apiece.

LUTES ON CATS: “Linfield is always a top three-team and after being swept, it will be difficult to know what to expect,” DiPietro said. “We won’t worry about them, we’ll worry about ourselves and be ready for anything they throw at us.”

HOT HITTING SIMON: For his performance against Menlo, Simon was a Northwest Conference honorable mention selection. In the weekend series, Simon had four hits, five RBI’s, scored two runs, and hit a game winning homerun in the second game. For the season, the third baseman is hitting .306, with 15 hits, 13 RBI’s, ten runs, and two homeruns.

LUTES LEADING THE CONFERENCE: The Lutes are also atop several Northwest Conference offensive categories this season. As a team, PLU has 126 hits, 90 RBI’s, 11 homeruns, and has scored 97 runs. The Lute pitching staff is first with 76 strikeouts, nine wins, and four saves.

- PLU -