March 20, 2008

BASEBALL: PLU Takes 6-6 NWC Record to Willamette

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (8-7-2, 6-6 NWC) at Willamette (9-8, 5-3 NWC) in a doubleheader, Friday, noon; PLU at Willamette in a doubleheader, Saturday, noon.

POST EARNS NWC HONOR: Jordan Post earned Northwest Conference Player of the Week honors after hitting .500 against Lewis & Clark in four games. The junior first baseman was 6-for-12 with two homers, five runs scored and six runs batted in. He also walked four times and was perfect in 38 fielding opportunities.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS: Willamette started the season with six wins in their first nine games but has lost five of their last eight. There is no team in the Northwest Conference with the kind of power exhibited thus far this season by the Bearcats, and Kyle Stalker is the primary reason for that. Stalker, a junior first baseman from Sammamish High School in Bellevue, has already slugged 12 home runs and driven in 31 runs in Willamette’s 17 games. Stalker is hitting .304 for the season. Outfielder TC Lee leads the Bearcat regulars with a .377 average and he also has five homers and 15 runs batted in. Centerfielder Sean Anderson is hitting .306 and is 10-for-11 in stolen bases. The Bearcats are hitting .288 as a team with 25 home runs and they average more than eight runs per game. Pitching is an issue for Willamette, however, as its opponents are hitting .331 against the Bearcats pitchers, who have a combined 7.71 earned run average. Clint Moran (1-2 record, 6.18 earned run average), Jarrid Summers (2-1, 6.90) and Tye Sundlee (1-3, 8.00) have all have five pitching starts fro the Bearcats. While the Bearcats have scored 139 points in their 17 games, they’ve also allowed 138 runs.

LAST SEASON’S SERIES: Pacific Lutheran swept the Bearcats in Salem on the way to winning the 2007 Northwest Conference title. The Lutes won the three nine-inning games by 7-0, 14-6 and 4-1 scores.

ABOUT THE LUTES: The Lutes enter their Northwest Conference series against Willamette with a 6-6 conference record, so successful defense of their title means they can afford to lose few, if any, of their remaining NWC counters. The Lutes are led in hitting by sophomore outfielder Josh Takayoshi, who is hitting .350 this season, and five other PLU starters are hitting above .300. All-conference catcher Brandon Sales is hitting .338 with a homer and 15 RBI, followed by second baseman Matt Akridge (.333, 2 homers), shortstop Ben Shively (.326), all-conference first baseman Jordan Post (.322, 2 homers, 17 RBI) and centerfielder Ryan Aratani (.322, five doubles). The Lutes have gotten quality starts from Hunter Simpson (1-0 record, 3.00 earned run average), Trey Watt (1-1, 3.15) and Robert Bleecker (2-0, 3.91) in recent games, and that trio of righthanders figures to each get a start this weekend. Senior lefty Brett Brunner, who earned all-conference honors last year, continues his road back from a serious injury to start the season. Brunner took a line drive off the face, but has come back to start two games since that time. He is 0-2 with a 6.75 earned run average, but you can expect those numbers to improve as Brunner gets more starting opportunities.

LUTES ON THE DEFENSIVE: After leading all of Division III baseball in fielding percentage last year (.975), the young 2008 Pacific Lutheran team continues its steady improvement in that area. The Lutes are fielding .963 as a team through the season’s first 17 games.

JUST A REMINDER: This season, all Northwest Conference series feature four games: two nine-inning games on the first day of the series and a couple of seven-inning games the following day.

LUTES TAKE THREE OF FOUR: Last weekend, the Lutes won three of four games from visiting Lewis & Clark. PLU swept the Saturday doubleheader by 12-8 and 8-5 scores, lost the Sunday opener, 3-2, before coming back in a 9-2 rout in the series finale. On Saturday, Jordan Post was the hitting hero with consecutive two-run homers in the opener. Post finished the game with three hits, four RBI and two runs scored, while Ben Shively added three hits and Josh Takayoski and Ryan Aratani collected a pair each in the Lutes’ 14-hit attack. Paul DiPietro picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-1 while Bret Handy pitched two hitless innings to earn his first save. In Saturday’s nightcap, Lewis & Clark controlled most of the second game, building a 3-0 lead after three innings. After cutting its deficit to 3-1, PLU finally broke the game open with a seven-run seventh inning. PLU collected five hits and two more batters were hit by pitches, but a pair of Lewis & Clark errors accounted for six of the seven runs being unearned. Josh Takayoshi, who led off the inning with a single, finished off the scoring with a two-run double. Takayoshi ripped three hits to lead PLU’s nine-hit offense. Robert Bleecker improved his pitching record to 2-0, allowing three runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking one in seven innings. Ian Opsal came into the game with one out in the ninth inning and the tying run on first base and coaxed the game-ending double play, and as a result picked up his first save this season. On Sunday, the Lutes again fell behind 3-0 and were unable to solve L&C starter Tucker Laurence until the seventh inning. After scoring two runs, the Lutes left the tying run on second base as the Pioneers took a 3-2 victory. In the Sunday nightcap, the Lutes jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and cruised from there. Trey Watt improved his record to 1-1, striking out six and walking no one in going the seven-inning distance in the second game. He allowed the Pioneers single runs in each of the last two innings, including an unearned run in the sixth. The hosts finished the game with 12 hits, including two each by Post, Matt Akridge, Carl Benton and Aratani. Benton hit a solo home run and Andrew Hernandez added a two-run shot for PLU.

LISTEN LIVE ON KCCR: Pacific Lutheran plans to 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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