Pacific reigns over PLU in wet weather

Boxers take 3 of 4 from PLU, Lutes end 7-game losing streak with their solo win

Brendan Abshier - abshiebk@plu.edu

Mast Sports Reporter

Pacific Lutheran University’s softball team had two opponents in Oregon last weekend: the rain and the Pacific University Boxers.

PLU played four games against the Boxers, losing 9-0, 6-2, 11-3, and winning the final nightcap 7-1.

Game one of the four game road trip left the Lutes with a single by first-year Brittney Weissenbuehler.

Sophomore Hadley Schmitt took the loss for PLU allowing nine runs on eight hits and three walks while slinging three strikeouts.

The plotting clouds decided to strike with rain during the nightcap Saturday forcing the game to undergo a 1 hour, 15 minute rain delay.

The Boxers weren’t slowed down by the onslaught of liquid bullets and scored five runs in the bottom of the third for a 6-0 lead.

PLU, looking for a comeback, could only put together two runs in the top of the seventh led by an RBI single by sophomore Carly Starke.

Pacific’s first-year slugger, Brooke Toy, tied the school’s record for most home runs in a season with a three-run blast in the first inning, her fifth of the year.

Sunday’s weather deemed fairly forgiving for the Lutes during the second double-feature with the Boxers taking the first game 11-3 and PLU winning the nightcap 7-1.

Pacific used twin four-hit innings to keep the momentum in their favor the first game. They finished the game with 14 hits.

PLU’s defense may have helped the rest of the Boxer base runners with the four errors that the defense allowed.

“We played a sloppy game that is nowhere near where we should be at this point in the season,” senior Lisa Gilbert said. “Instead of steadily climbing up the ladder, we have taken ourselves down a few rungs.”

The second game was a chance for the Lutes to prove that they never quit fighting to win with their nine hits and seven runs.

They opened the scoring in the second inning to take their first lead of the weekend. First-year Beth Haahr put PLU on the board when her single drove in sophomore Sheila Reiten. Junior Missy Waldron added another run to the board when her single scored sophomore Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt to make the score 2-0.

The Lutes stayed dormant with the bats after making the game 2-0 in the third until a grand slam by Starke. She took the first pitch she saw and nobody saw that ball again.

“It was definitely a big upper for the team,” Starke said. “We have leaders at different parts of the game on our team, and it felt good for me to be able to hit a grand slam when I usually don’t get hits like that.”

Pacific started to rally in both the sixth and the seventh inning, but Wheeler-Hoyt did what she could to thwart Boxer batters and earned her seventh win of the season. She allowed one run on seven hits while striking out four and walking one.

PLU’s win marked the end of a tough seven game losing streak for the Lutes.

PLU will play 10 of the rest of its 12 games at home, starting with a Northwest Conference series next Saturday against Linfield followed by Willamette Sunday.

Photo by Lisa Gilbert

Sophomore Carly Starke takes a swing at a pitch and connected for a double on the play during PLU’s match against George Fox. The Lutes were able to salvage one win last weekend and will host Linfield and Willamette at the PLU field this Saturday and Sunday.