Lutes chop down Loggers

PLU softball sweeps four games from UPS to end season

Brendan Abshier - abshiebk@plu.edu

Mast Sports Reporter

Pacific Lutheran University ended the season on a good note last weekend wrapping up a four game sweep of University of Puget Sound.
The Lutes finished Saturday winning 3-2 and 4-2 after starting the day by rallying back from a 1-0 deficit.

Sophomore Rachel Wheeler-Hoyt was called in to pinch hit and put a solid swing on the ball to send it flying over the fence for a two-run home run after her teammates were able to get on base.

Puget Sound stayed in the game and closed the lead making the game 3-2 with a run in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third in the sixth, sophomore Hadley Schmitt got a strikeout and thwarted the Loggers’ chance at taking the lead.

Schmitt allowed two runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking four in a successful attempt to gain her seventh win of the season.
PLU had hot bats in the second game collecting 13 hits.
In the second game of the day, the Lutes started out with a 1-0 lead. The Lutes kept the foot on the accelerator and pushed until the games end, never losing the lead.

PLU first-year Caitlin Brown had three hits while fellow first-years Stephanie Mullen and Bethe Haahr each had two.
Sunday was an exciting day to end the season.

PLU head coach Rick Noren announced his resignation earlier in the week. The Lutes gave him a day to remember.

The Lutes opened the first inning with five runs on their way to their 6-2 victory.

With six runs on only nine hits, PLU had to make every base runner count, and they did. They ended the game with only six runners left on base.

The second game was the final game for seniors Heather Walling and Lisa Gilbert. Sophomore Carly Starke gave them an excellent farewell with her walk-off homerun in the eighth inning in the nightcap.

“We achieved our goal of being undefeated for the last eight games,” Walling said. “We ended the season on a high note, and I was very proud of us.”

The entire PLU team,will miss their Lute comrades.

“They’re really good teammates, and it’s going to be hard to fill their places,” Starke said.

Puget Sound had the lead twice in the game, and twice PLU came back to make the competition a nail-biter.

The players, and the fans, really started to sweat when the Loggers took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning.

Mullen did what she could and drew a walk before scoring on Brown’s sacrifice fly to take the game to the top of the eighth inning.

Wheeler-Hoyt shut out Puget Sound in the eighth to set up her team for a chance at victory. Starke led off the inning and finished the inning with one swift swing.

Noren picked up his 402nd win with Starke’s homerun.

“It was just a really emotional day, and I don’t think that homerun could have come at a better time,” Starke said. “I just gave him a big hug and said ‘There you go, there’s 402 for you.’”

Walling collected three hits and Gilbert had one in the doubleheader in the proud and exciting finish of their PLU softball playing careers.

Look for a feature on Noren, the Lutes leading coach in wins, in the next issue of The Mast.

Photos by Jenna Callaway

TOP: The Lutes congeregate on the mound to discuss strategy during a game this past weekend. PLU finished the season in fourth place in the Northwest Conference.
MIDDLE: First-year Caitlin Brown runs after hitting a pitch in a game Saturday against UPS.
BOTTOM: Sophomore Hadley Schmitt prepares to throw a pitch to UPS. The Lutes finished thrir season with four wins over the Loggers.