April 5, 2007

SOFTBALL: Lutes Bog Down; Linfield Visits for Four-Game Series

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Linfield (DH), Friday, noon; PLU hosts Linfield (DH), Saturday, noon (Listen starting at 1 p.m. on KLAY 1180 AM)

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION: The problem? An outfield that drains poorly because of a thick layer of clay under the grass, combined with heavy rains during the spring. Solution? Drill about 40 holes three- to four-feet deep, fill the holes with rock, sand and Turface, then cover with grass. That was the case last weekend when Pacific Lutheran’s outfield – in particular right field – became a bog. The conference doubleheader scheduled for Saturday against Pacific was postponed, and that put the coaches and players to work with a gas-powered post-hole digger. Hours later, with more sand and Turface covering the field, the bog started to drain. By Sunday, the Lutes were able to get in their scheduled doubleheader against Willamette. Though the right field area was still less-than-ideal, it had drained enough to be playable.

SPLIT AGAINST THE BEARCATS: PLU and Willamette split their two games, the Bearcats whipping the Lutes by an 8-0 score in the first game before the Lutes came back for a 4-3, nine-inning win in the second contest. The Bearcats had 11 hits, including two homers by Geneva Hale, in support of a two-hitter by Nikki Franchi. The game ended after five innings because of the eight-run rule. The second game had plenty of drama and came to an end when the Lutes strung together four hits and scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Willamette took a 2-0 lead in the first before Alana Schutt hit a double to drive in Beth Kenck, who reached on a single, in the fourth inning. The Lutes scored the tying run in their last at-bat, the seventh, on four straight walks by the Willamette pitchers. The Bearcats scored a run in the ninth for a 3-2 lead before the Lutes finally got the bats going. To that point they had managed just three hits, but with one out Heather Walling and Missy Waldron slapped singles into left field. Lisa Gilbert, who had one hit in limited at bats the entire season, drilled a double to drive in Walling, and Kenck then hit a single to score Waldron with the winning run. Freshman pitcher Hadley Schmitt had both decisions, going the distance in the first game and relieving and winning in the second. Her record this season is 7-4.

PLU VS. LINFIELD: Pacific Lutheran returns to conference action on Friday and Saturday when they host the Linfield Wildcats in a four-game series. The teams play a doubleheader at noon on Friday, followed by another doubleheader at noon on Saturday. The Friday twinbill has been moved up two hours from the original schedule. Because Linfield is traveling to Tacoma on Thursday, PLU head coach Rick Noren and Linfield head coach Jackson Vaughan agreed to start at an earlier time.

ABOUT LINFIELD: PLU will have its hands full with the Linfield Wildcats, who have won three straight conference championships. The 2006 Wildcats ended up reaching the NCAA Division III national tournament where they placed fourth. This season, Linfield is 20-4 overall and 11-1 in the conference, one game behind unbeaten Whitworth. Linfield presents a balanced team with a .378 batting average, a 2.70 earned run average and a very impressive .979 fielding percentage. Among the regular, four players are hitting at least .439 this season. Jenny Marshall leads the pack at .455, followed by Eric Hancock and Jena Loop at .451 each. Hancock leads a power-laden lineup with seven homers, while Loop has contributed four. Amanda Attleberger is hitting .439 with three homers and 22 runs batted in. Meredith Brunette had a .368 average, two homers and leads the Wildcats’ balanced attack with 25 runs batted in. Hancock is the pitching leader with a 7-0 record and a 1.98 earned run average. She has struck out 41 batters in 42 1/3 innings. Brittany Miller is 6-2 this year with a 2.53 earned run average and has struck out 50 opponents in 52 2/3 innings. Finally, Samantha Van Noy is 7-2 with a 3.54 earned run average. Those are impressive numbers indeed, and what PLU must contend with this Friday and Saturday.

- PLU -