March 10, 2008

SOFTBALL: Conference Schedule Heats Up for 7-1 Lutes

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (9-5 overall, 7-1 NWC) travels to Oregon for a pair of Northwest Conference doubleheaders. The Lutes play defending conference and national champion Linfield at noon on Saturday and Willamette at noon on Sunday.

ABOUT LINFIELD: Linfield College has won four straight Northwest Conference titles and ran the string all the way out to a NCAA Division III championship in 2007. Many of the stars from that team are back for another run at both the conference and national crowns. That list includes infielder Jenny Marshall, the 2007 NWC Player of the Year, and Brittany Miller, the 2007 NWC Pitcher of the Year. Also back are First Team All-NWC utility player and home run leader Erica Hancock, first team All-NWC infielder and triples leader Amanda Attleberger, first team All-NWC infielder and doubles leader Meredith Brunette, and first team All-NWC outfielder Stephanie Rice.

MORE ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Linfield is 10-0 overall this year, including a perfect 8-0 record in the Northwest Conference, and has outscored its opponents 102-18 this season. The Wildcats have done it with offense (.383 team batting average), defense (only three errors and a .989 fielding percentage), and pitching (78 strikeouts in 69 innings). Some of the players’ individual numbers are staggering, including Jenny Marshall’s .643 batting average (27-for-42), three triples, 13 runs batted in and nine steals. Meredith Brunette is hitting .425 with five triple and 16 RBI, Amanda Attleberger is hitting .406 with three homers and 13 RBI, and Erica Hancock has collected three homers and 16 RBI while hitting .316. All nine of the Wildcats' regulars are hitting .300 or better. The bulk of the pitching duties are handled by Brittany Miller, 4-0 with a 2.51 earned run average and 47 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings, and Kendra Strahm, 6-0 with a 1.50 earned run average. Opponents are hitting just .155 against Miller and .212 against Strahm.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Pacific Lutheran and Linfield have played the same opponents through the first two weekends of conference play. The Wildcats have swept four games from Whitworth and beat both George Fox and Lewis & Clark in doubleheaders. PLU’s only blemish against those same teams is a 5-4 loss to Whitworth in which PLU errors led to four unearned Pirates’ runs. It should be noted that Linfield has outscored its NWC opponents 90-14 while the Lutes have a 49-21 advantage in the eight games.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: Once Linfield is out of the way, the Lutes face another tough Northwest Conference opponent in Willamette. The Bearcats are 6-2 overall, 4-2 in the conference, and have outscored their opponents 62-20 this season. They host Puget Sound in a conference twinbill on Saturday prior to playing the Lutes on Sunday. Nikki Franchi is the leader, both on offense and as a pitcher. She is hitting .600 this season (15-for-25) with two homers and 10 RBI, while compiling a 3-2 record and a 1.14 earned run average from the pitching circle. Franchi has fanned 41 batters in 30 2/3 innings and is allowing opponents a measly .150 batting average. She teamed with Amy Valencia to throw a no-hitter against George Fox last weekend. Elizabeth Gilgan is hitting .517 for the Bearcats with five doubles, while Marissa Richards is the main power producer with four homers, 11 RBI and a .364 average. Willamette doesn't have the pitching depth, however, as No. 2 hurler Debra Bohren has a 2-0 record despite a 5.11 earned run average and allowing one walk per inning.

ABOUT THE LUTES: While it is true that both of PLU’s upcoming opponents show excellent statistics, the Lutes are also doing pretty well in that regard. All nine of PLU’s starters are currently hitting above .300, led by Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt at .439. She also has two homers and nine RBI this season. Lisa Gilbert is hitting .382, followed by Sheila Reiten at .357, Stephanie Mullen at .350 and Carly Starke at .349. Vanessa Bryant is hitting .333 and leads PLU with three homers and 11 RBI. Both Starke and Heather Walling are perfect in four stolen base attempts. Hadley Schmitt is the Lutes’ pitching ace with a 5-3 record, two saves and a 1.38 earned run average. In 55 2/3 innings she has fanned 42 while allowing opponents a .220 batting average. Wheeler-Hoyt is 4-2 this season with a 3.90 earned run average.

BROWNIE POINTS: Two days before the start of the Northwest Conference season (Feb. 28 to be exact), PLU head coach Rick Noren added Caitlin Brown to the team. Until that time Brown, a freshman from Sprague High School in Salem, Ore., had decided to focus on her academics rather than try out for the PLU team. Confident of her ability to handle her school work, Brown asked for a tryout and was added to the squad prior to PLU’s March 1 conference opener at George Fox. After seeing pinch running duty and one at bat during the Lutes’ doubleheaders against George Fox and Lewis & Clark, Brown moved into the starting lineup for the final three games this past weekend against Whitworth. All the former Oregon all-stater did was collect four hits in eight at-bats, reach base two more times when hit by a pitch, steal a base, and play flawless defense in seven total chances.

PLU TAKES THREE OF FOUR FROM PIRATES: Pacific Lutheran took three of four Northwest Conference games from visiting Whitworth last weekend. PLU and the Pirates split the Saturday doubleheader, the Pirates winning 5-4 in the opener before the Lutes came back to win the nightcap, 8-4. Whitworth took advantage of sloppy PLU fielding to win the opener as the Lutes committed three errors that led to four of the Pirates’ five runs being unearned. In addition, the Lutes collected 13 hits but failed several times in key at bats, leading to 10 runners stranded on base. Hadley Schmitt was the hard-luck loser, allowing only one earned run among five while also giving up five hits and striking out four. Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt picked up the pitching win in the second game. In 5 1/3 innings she allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits while walking none and striking out six. Schmitt worked the final 1 2/3 innings to get her first save of the season. Bryant had four hits, including her third homer, in the doubleheader, while Heather Walling, Wheeler-Hoyt and Stephanie Mullen each had three hits for the Lutes. On Sunday, Schmitt picked up a win in the first game and a save in the second as Pacific Lutheran swept a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader from visiting Whitworth. Both games were close as the Lutes won by 4-3 and 5-4 scores. Schmitt improved her season record to 5-3 in the first game, allowing three earned runs on six hits while walking three and striking out eight. Wheeler-Hoyt and Carly Starke both had a pair of hits for the Lutes. Schmitt pitched the final inning of the second game to record her second save in as many days. Starke threw out a runner at the plate for the second out of the inning, preserving the lead and giving the Lutes the victory. The Lutes scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Wheeler-Hoyt led off with a homer to right field. The Lutes collected 14 hits in the second game, including three by Missy Waldron and two each by Wheeler-Hoyt, Walling, Lisa Gilbert and Caitlin Brown.

COACH NOREN: Rick Noren, in his 14th year as head coach of the Pacific Lutheran softball team, needs eight more wins to reach 400 as the Lutes’ mentor. He has compiled a 392-131-1 record (.749 winning percentage) to this point. The Lutes have captured eight Northwest Conference titles under Noren, the last coming in 2003.

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