Setting the Scene: The Lutes resume their homestand this weekend, welcoming in-state nemesis Whitman to PLU Field.
Series History: The Lutes and Blues have met 134 times on the diamond since the 1980 season with PLU enjoying a commanding 98-36 edge in the series.
Despite this, it's been Whitman who has dominated the series as of late, winning the last four meetings and 12 of the last 15. Last season the Blues took all three games in Walla Walla, prevailing 12-9 and 9-2 on April 15 and 11-8 the following day.
About the Lutes:Rain, hail, lightning, and a bit of sunshine all made appearances at PLU Field on Wednesday afternoon as the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team fell 6-1 to Division II Saint Martin's University in a non-conference showdown that was called after 7 1/2 innings.
The Saints' (11-22) Alohi Arecchi was a one-man wrecking crew in the early innings, belting an RBI single in the first inning before adding a two-RBI double in the second to make it 3-0. St. Martin's doubled its lead in the fourth with a bases clearing double to make it 6-0.
The host Lutes (8-13) got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gunnar Sebright got on base on an error before advancing to third on a wild pitch. A Brayden Adcox sacrifice fly to left field scored Sebright but that would be the only run generated for the Lutes as they left seven men on over the course of the seven complete innings played.
PLU pumped out five hits with Rochne Beecham, Hayden Kaiser, Brody Phinney, Jaden Pieper, and Sebright all collecting base knocks while the visiting Saints also mustered five base hits.
Wyatt Norris struck out three in his one inning of action on a day the Lutes utilized seven arms over the seven complete innings. PLU's pitching staff combined for nine strikeouts but allowed eight free passes on the game.
Aaron Barber has been on a tear this season, boasting a team-best .380 batting average with 12 RBIs and six extra base hits. Hayden Kaiser is hitting at a .333 clip while Ashton Barton has a team-leading six doubles, three home runs, 10 extra base hits, and 13 RBIs.
Kamryn Swartz has a 4.71 earned run average in 28 2/3 innings pitched while Chris Moreno is the Lute strikeout king with 31 on the season in 27 innings of work. Jonathan Cohen has shown his versatility as a starter and in the pen with 25 innings pitched this season.
Saturday's are for the Lutes: PLU has been on a tear on Saturday's— going 5-0 over the past four Saturdays. That streak started on the home opener on March 9, sweeping Willamette 7-2 and 1-0. The Lutes took two from George Fox on March 16 (12-5 & 5-4) and downed California Lutheran 6-4 last weekend.
We're Number 1: If it seems like the Lutes have played a tough schedule, well, it's because they have.
PLU has the toughest schedule in all of NCAA Division III right now, sitting atop the division that has 389 baseball squads. The Lutes have faced just two teams with a losing record this season with one of them being Division II Saint Martin's.
About the Blues: Whitman (11-7, 6-3 NWC) heads to Tacoma having won five of its last six games. That includes taking two of three from Pacific last weekend and a three-game sweep of Alfred State (N.Y.) in Oregon.
Last weekend, the Blues swept Pacific on Saturday to open the series, prevailing 5-1 in game one before staving off a late rally with an 8-6 victory in game two. The Boxers would avoid the sweep on Sunday, leading wire-to-wire for the 4-2 win.
Whitman boasts five hitters with at least 50 at-bats that are hitting above .300 with Garrett Runyan leading the way with a .358 average and 11 runs scored. Beck Maguire is hitting at a .348 clip with three home runs and 21 runs scored while Brandon Ting is a .338 hitter with 13 extra base hits. Jack Bickerton provided the power, scoring 21 runs while belting seven home runs in the opening 18 games of 2024.
The Blues' starting rotation is Mateus Conaway, Julien Hernandez, and Jack Hostetler. Conaway has a team-best 2.70 earned run average with 29 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings of work while Hernandez has 43 punch outs and a 3-1 record in 33 innings of action. Hostetler adds 28 strikeouts while reliever Russell Petersen has a 3-1 record with 19 Ks.
Lutes' Rodriquez is 'Dynamite'
You've seen him on the diamond and likely seen him on social media after the Lute baseball player went viral this fall.
1 Weekend. 3 Championships.
Check out all the celebration highlights below as PLU volleyball, women's soccer, and men's soccer all clinched league titles on Senior Day weekend on Oct. 28-29.
Fall Sports Recap
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Summer Lutes
PLU men's soccer student-athlete Elijah Singleton had a busy summer serving as an intern in a lab at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Learn more about his daily routine in the video below.
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
This spring PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first school in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Next Home Game:
Apr. 13 vs. Linfield at 12 p.m.
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu