April 29, 2007

Conference Champion Lutes Cruise Past Loggers and Into Playoffs

Line Score

PARKLAND, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran wrapped up an unbeaten home record on Sunday and started preparations for NCAA Division III tournament play with a 9-3 Northwest Conference baseball victory over the visiting Puget Sound Loggers.

Jeff Caley - one of 10 seniors playing their final home game

The Lutes, who yesterday swept the Loggers to wrap up their first conference championship in 53 years, finished the regular season with a 32-7 record, including a 21-3 mark in the conference. After starting 1-2 in conference play, PLU won 20 of their final 21, including six series sweeps. In addition to winning all 16 of its home games this year, PLU also swept six games from the Loggers, the first three non-conference and the other three in NWC action.

Pacific Lutheran advances to NCAA regional tournament action scheduled for May 16-20 at a site to be determined. That announcement should be made by May 13.

With the game tied 1-1, the Lutes broke things open by scoring four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. As they have done many times this season, the Lutes scored all of their runs in the fifth with two outs. Logan Andrews led off with a single and reached third with two outs when Jared Simon walked. Roger Guzman drove in Andrews with a single, and Ryan Thorne followed with a base hit that scored Simon and sent Guzman to third base. Thorne then stole second base, his 69th career steal, moving him past Tony Whitley (1974-76) and into first on the PLU career list. Jordan Post, whose single scored Thorne with the Lutes' first-inning run, then knocked in two more with another base hit.

An inning later, the Lutes added three more runs on a run-scoring single by Andrews, a RBI triple by Brandon Sales and a ground out.

After PLU scored once in the seventh inning to make it 9-1, the Loggers came back to score once in both the eighth and ninth innings. They parlayed a single by Pete Marcek, a pinch-hit double by Trevor Beck and a PLU error into one run, and added their final tally on Tim Steggall's second sacrifice fly of the game in the ninth. Marcek and Steggall accounted for Puget Sound's first run of the game when Marcek led off the third with a triple and then scored on Steggall's first sac fly.

Brett Brunner threw seven innings of three-hit ball to improve his pitching record to 7-2. Jeff Caley, one of 10 PLU seniors honored before the start of the game, closed out the game for the Lutes. Chris Owens started the game and took the loss for the Loggers, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits in five innings.

Jordan Post, who finished the series 8-for-13 with three runs scored and five RBI, had three hits and three RBI in this one. Guzman, Thorne and Andrews each added a pair of hits for the Lutes.

Puget Sound, which finishes the season 16-21-1 overall and 13-11 in the conference, managed seven hits in the game with Marcek collecting a pair.

- PLU -