March 3, 2008

SOFTBALL: Lutes Take Four NWC Games Over Weekend

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran softball team (6-4, 4-0 NWC) hosts the Whitworth Pirates in a four-game Northwest Conference series. The teams will play a pair of doubleheaders starting at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.

ROAD WARRIORS: After playing 10 games on the road, the Lutes finally play their first home games of the season next weekend when they host the Whitworth Pirates in the aforementioned four-game Northwest Conference series.

ABOUT WHITWORTH: The Pirates (1-7, 0-4 NWC) have stumbled into the 2008 season. The seven losses Whitworth has this season are more than it had in the entire 2007 season when it finished 30-6 overall and 25-3 in Northwest Conference play. Last weekend, Whitworth was swept by defending NCAA Division III national champion Linfield in two NWC doubleheaders. Whitworth defeated PLU in all four games last season.

PLU TOPS GEORGE FOX: Collecting a total of 26 hits, 12 of them for extra bases, Pacific Lutheran swept the George Fox Bruins, 4-1 and 11-1, as the Northwest Conference portion of the softball season got underway for both teams last Saturday afternoon at Morse Field. After falling behind 1-0, the visiting Lutes responded in the top of the fourth as Heather Walling singled, went to third on a double by Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt, and both scored on a double by Vanessa Bryant. The Lutes added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth as Bryant doubled, Carly Starke doubled home pinch-runner Crystal Reno, and Starke scored on consecutive singles by Stephanie Mullen and Sheila Reiten. The Lutes had 12 hits in the game, with Reiten, Walling, Wheeler-Hoyt and Bryant getting two apiece, but stranded nine runners. Hadley Schmitt (3-2) picked up the win for the Lutes as she went the distance, allowing only four hits and one unearned run while striking out 10 with five walks. The Lutes had eight extra-base hits in the nightcap, including three home runs. In the top of the first, Lisa Gilbert had a RBI double and Mullen a run-scoring single in a three-run rally. PLU added one run in the second on a wild pitch, and then broke the game open with four in the third, Bryant and Wheeler-Hoyt each contributing two-run home runs, the first of the season for both. Gilbert doubled in a run and Bryant hit a second two-run blast in the fourth, giving the Lutes more than enough to have the game called after five innings by the eight-run rule. Gilbert, Bryant, Mullen and Wheeler-Hoyt had two hits each in the Lutes’ 14-hit attack. Peterson went 2-for-2 for the Bruins, half the team’s hits. Wheeler-Hoyt (1-2) picked up her first win, scattering four hits with three strikeouts and one walk.

LUTES SWEEP PIOS: Hadley Schmitt and Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt both threw complete games to lead Pacific Lutheran to a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader sweep of the host Lewis & Clark Pioneers last Sunday afternoon. The Lutes defeated the Pioneers 5-1 in the opener and 8-2 in the second game. Schmitt went the seven-inning distance to improve her record to 4-2 this season, allowing an unearned run on four hits while walking one and striking out three. The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Lutes responded with two runs in the second and three more in the fourth. With two out in the second, Carly Starke singled and stole second, and Crystal Reno followed with an infield base hit. Both runners scored on Sheila Reiten's triple. In the fourth, Stephanie Mullen hit a double and Starke followed with a single. Mullen scored on a wild pitch and after a two-out walk to Reiten, Missy Waldron knocked in the final two runs with a triple. The Lutes finished the game with 10 hits including three by Starke and two each by Waldron and Heather Walling. In the second game, Wheeler-Hoyt gave up two runs, one earned, on seven hits while walking one and fanning three. She got plenty of offensive support as the Lutes clubbed 10 more hits, including two each by Reiten, Wheeler-Hoyt and Vanessa Bryant. PLU also benefited from shoddy Lewis & Clark defense as only one of the eight runs was earned.

NWC HONORS: Sophomore Hadley Schmitt was named Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week for her outstanding performance this past weekend. Schmitt went 2-0 with two complete games, allowing only two runs, none earned, on eight hits. She struck out 13 and walked six.

COACH NOREN: Rick Noren is in his 14th year as head coach of the Pacific Lutheran softball team. Noren has compiled a 383-126-1 record (.752 percent) through the 2007 season. The Lutes have captured eight Northwest Conference titles under Noren, the last coming in 2003.

- PLU -