Losses do not dampen Lutes’ spirit

Late-inning rallies do not give PLU the advantage

Tyler Scott - scotttj@plu.edu

Mast sports reporter

Pacific Lutheran took a break from Northwest Conference play, hosting Menlo in a three-game series last weekend. Unfortunately for the Lutes, two late-inning rallies fell just short as the Oaks took two of three from PLU.

One of baseball’s defining stats is performance in close games, and this has proven to be the Achilles heel of this season for the PLU squad. Menlo’s two wins in the series both came by two runs or less, 6-4 in 12 innings in the first game and 3-2 in the final game, dropping Pacific Lutheran’s record in games decided by two runs or less to 3-10.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore Josh Takayoshi tripled to deep center field to drive home junior Matt Akridge from first with the tying run. The Lutes had a perfect opportunity to steal the win with the deciding run standing 90 feet from home plate, but a suicide squeeze bunt attempt was popped up to the pitcher, who fired it over to third base for the unconventional double play.

The game had been a textbook example of PLU’s ability to come from behind, as Menlo took a 2-0 lead in the second, a 3-2 lead in the seventh and the 4-3 lead in the ninth.

The Lutes scored their first run in the second when first-year Ryan Aratani singled down the fight field line to bring home junior Kris Hansen, who had reached base on a fielding error and advanced to second on a passed ball. In the fifth inning, Takayoshi singled up the middle with two outs, stole second and came around to tie the game on junior Carl Benton’s clutch single to center field.

After the Oaks took a one-run lead in the seventh, the Lutes tied it up in the eighth when junior Brandon Sales’ single scored junior Jordan Post from second base. By the end of the game, the key stat for each team was the double-digit left-on-base totals.

Menlo first baseman Rob Monderine salvaged what had been a 0-6 day when he came to bat with a runner on base in the top of the 12th inning. He crushed a line drive to right field that cleared the fence for a home run, giving the Oaks what turned out to be the deciding runs of the game.

Sophomore Trey Watt gave up just one unearned run on three hits in eight innings, striking out six batters.

The Lutes scored six runs in the first two innings thanks to a combination of three Menlo errors, four PLU hits and some control problems for Menlo’s starting pitcher. An RBI double by junior Andrew Hernandez and a sacrifice fly by Takayoshi in the eighth inning gave the Lutes their final two as they defeated the Oaks, 8-3.

Watt, who has grown into one of the Lutes’ top starting pitchers in only his second season, offered a lot of credit to senior Brett Brunner.

“Brett has inspired me the most this season; he has overcome so much adversity with injuries and bad luck,” Watt said. “Brett has taught me a lot about the game.”

Brunner started Sunday’s game, allowing one earned run on three hits in six innings of work in the 3-2 loss. The game was another tough loss for the Lutes, who managed only two runs on 12 hits, leaving 12 runners on base.

Monderine once again served as the offensive hero for the Oaks, driving in the deciding run in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie.

The loss overshadowed an outstanding offensive performance by Post, who went 5-5 with a double and his fifth home run of the season.

Head coach Geoff Loomis focused on the importance of finishing out the year strong.

“Our team is positive moving forward with the rest of our season,” Loomis said. “We have 12 games left and we’ll prepare ourselves to compete for wins in all 12 games. We are a young team with only four seniors. These seniors have had an amazing run in their four years at PLU, and our goal as a team is to send them out as the most successful senior class to ever play at PLU.”
Watt emphasized the positive aspects for a young team.

“This weekend was another learning experience for our very young team,” Watt said. “The team is improving with every game, so we are looking to stay in the hunt.”

The Lutes return to action this weekend with a Northwest Conference series in Spokane against Whitworth . They will return home one week later, hosting Whitman.

Photo by Issac Van Mechelen

Senior Brett Brunner pitches from the Lutes’ home mound to a Menlo batter Saturday, April 5. Brunner started Sunday’s game versus Menlo, allowing one earned run. The Lutes had late-inning rallies but only manged to win one of the three games against the Oaks.