March 29, 2007

SOFTBALL: Lutes Win Four of Five in Tucson, Host Two NWC Foes

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Pacific (DH), Saturday, noon; PLU hosts Willamette (DH), Sunday, noon.

LUTES WIN FOUR IN TUCSON: Pacific Lutheran won four of the five games it played at the Tucson Invitational. The Lutes were scheduled to play Luther (Iowa) and Calvin (Mich.) on Friday, March 23, but those games were rained out. PLU was able to add a game the morning of March 24 and did its business against St. Joseph’s College from Brooklyn, N.Y., winning 12-0. Later that day the Lutes swept a scheduled doubleheader from St. Olaf (Minn.), 9-0 and 12-0. Theresa Tauscher had three home runs - including a pair of grand slams - and two doubles among eight hits to lead the Lutes to the three wins. In the three games, Tauscher went 8-for-9, drove in 13 runs and scored five more. Her offensive explosion came in support of the strong pitching efforts of freshmen Hadley Schmitt and Cassie Canales. Schmitt picked up victories against St. Joseph's and St. Olaf, striking out 14 batters while walking none and giving up just three hits in eight innings. Canales had the other win against St. Olaf, striking out 12 batters. On March 26, Pacific Lutheran split a pair of games, losing to Eastern Oregon 9-1 and beating St. Olaf 10-6. The Lutes managed just two hits and committed five errors in the loss to Eastern Oregon. Cathy Kirkevold hit a double to drive in PLU’s only run in the fourth inning. Trailing 6-2 after three innings, the Lutes scored four runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth in the finale against St. Olaf. Tauscher continued her hot hitting with a homer, two singles and four runs batted in during the game. She finished the tournament 11-of-14 with four homers and 16 runs batted in. Canales had three hits and two RBI, and Beth Kenck, Ashley Lopez and Carly Starke all contributed a pair of hits to PLU’s 13-hit attack. Hadley Schmitt picked up the win in relief of Lopez. Schmitt, now 6-3 for the season, allowed no runs on just two hits with four strikeouts in three innings of work.

TAUSCHER IS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Because of her offensive exploits in PLU’s three opening wins at the Tucson Invitational, Theresa Tauscher earned the nod as the Northwest Conference Player of the Week. The selection panel took into consideration games played from Monday, March 19 through Sunday, March 25.

CONFERENCE ACTION: The Lutes, who improved their season record to 10-5, return to action this weekend when they host Pacific on Saturday and Willamette on Sunday in a pair of Northwest Conference doubleheaders. The Lutes are tied with Puget Sound for third in the conference standings with a 4-4 record, though Willamette is also at .500 with a 3-3 NWC mark. Pacific is currently in sixth in the circuit with a 2-4 record.

ABOUT PACIFIC: The Boxers come into Saturday’s doubleheader with a 10-6 record, with four of those losses coming to NWC leader Whitworth. The Boxers are hitting .289 as a team, led by Kristen Croxford with a .396 average. Kristin Larkins is hitting .388 with four homers and 17 RBI, and Caitlin Hastenbroek has a .385 average, two homers and 12 runs batted in. Amy Walters is only hitting .225, but she is 8-of-8 on stolen base attempts. Pacific has one of the NWC’s top pitchers in Miranda McNealy, who has a 6-2 record, a 1.43 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in just 49 innings. Backing her up is Heather Ritenour who is 3-1 with a 3.98 earned run average.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: Despite being just 3-3 in the league and 9-6 overall, the Bearcats are currently ranked No. 6 in the Division III national poll. The Bearcats lost three in a row early in the season to Linfield, but do have impressive non-conference wins over Central (Iowa) and Chapman (Calif.) to their credit from the NFCA Lead-off Classic in Florida. Molly Barnes leads the team with a .463 average, and she also has slugged three homers. Nikki Franchi is hitting .425 with two homers and a team-high 15 RBI, and Geneva Hale provides pop with four homers and 13 RBI to go along with a .275 batting average. Two other regulars, Elizabeth Gilgan (.358) and LaShawna Holcomb (.354) are hitting in the mid .300s. Franchi is the leading pitcher with a 4-2 record, a 2.74 earned run average and 50 strikeouts in 46 innings. Leighann Auer has a 4-2 record and a 3.66 earned run average.

- PLU -