Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team takes a break from Northwest Conference play, hosting Chapman University from the rugged Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for a three-game series at PLU Field.
Series History: The Lutes and Panthers have met 10 times since the series first began in 1997 with Chapman holding a 6-4 edge.
The two teams last met during the 2019 season with Chapman prevailing 15-5 in a neutral site game in Tucson, Arizona.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (9-15, 6-9 NWC) won its second conference series of the season over the weekend, taking two of three at home against Linfield University.
PLU secured a 6-4 win over the visiting Wildcats last Friday, using a four-run eighth inning to pull ahead. The two teams split the next day with Linfield riding a strong individual pitching effort to a 6-0 win before the Lutes secured the series with a 7-6 win in game three.
Kamryn Swartz was dialed in on the hill, earning the save in game one and collecting the win in game three after tossing three innings of long relief.
PLU was back on the diamond on Wednesday. Brody Phinney blasted a grand slam in the seventh inning but a pair of unearned runs sabotaged the Lutes in the ninth with host University of Puget Sound winning 7-6 on a walkoff walk.
Aaron Barber is the Lutes' top bat, boasting a .341 batting average with a team-best 31 hits and 19 RBIs. Brody Phinney has a .324 average with a team-best 20 runs scored and three home runs while Rutger Youch (.313) and Ethan Keintz (.302) are all hitting above .300 through the opening 24 games of 2025. Youch additionally provides some speed on the basepaths with 16 stolen bases.
Alex Lopez has been a first-year phenom for the Lutes, tying with Matthew Sherwood for the team lead in innings pitched at 32 2/3 while owning a 3.03 earned run average. Lopez has a 3-1 record with one save in nine appearances.
Sherwood has a team-best 25 strikeouts while Chris Moreno has 22.
About the Panthers: Chapman (7-20, 6-9 NWC) heads to Tacoma having won two of its last three games. The Panthers downed Occidental College 6-1 last Friday, snapping an eight game skid before splitting a doubleheader against the Tigers the following day.
Host Oxy took game two of the series 5-4, using a pair of home runs to muscle out the win but Chapman got the last laugh, scoring 10 runs in the opening six innings in a 14-10 victory.
Brennan Beckley leads the Panthers with a .322 batting average and is the only hitter with at least 20 at bats to hit above .300. Josh Phillips has crushed eight home runs and 17 extra base hits, leading the team in RBIs (18) and runs scored (23).
Henry Chabot has been virtually unhittable, owning a 1.73 earned run average with 75 strikeouts over 52 innings of work. Chabot has limited opposing hitters to a paltry .171 batting average. Graham Stogner has 48 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings while Matthew Kuromoto has 37 punch outs in 32 1/3 innings of work.
Bow Down to PLU
Pacific Lutheran (6-7, 3-3 NWC) picked up a historic win on March 18, unseating the Washington Huskies 3-1 at Husky Ballpark. Rochne Beecham belted a two-RBi double in the second inning while Ethan Keintz added a solo home run in the fourth.
PLU's pitching staff was dialed in. Chris Moreno, Kamryn Swartz and Matt Sherwood combined for six strikeouts while allowing just one run with Moreno earning the win and Sherwood collecting the save.
It was PLU's first game against the Huskies since 2001 when current Head Coach Nolan Soete was a freshman infielder for the program. The Lute win was the program's first over UW since 1982 and was the first non-Division I team to etch a victory over a Power 4 program this season and the first D3 win over a Power 4 since 2022.
Chasing 200
Head Coach Nolan Soete enters the weekend just three wins shy of 200 for his career. A 2006 Lute graduate, Soete has been with the program since 2007 as an assistant before taking the reins as head coach in 2016. His nine year tenure at the helm has seen the Lutes make six trips to the NWC Tournament, win the 2016 NWC Tournament and the 2018 NWC regular season title.
A Hero on and off the Diamond
Three home runs. One saved life. Pacific Lutheran University's Carson Burke redefined what it means to be a hero on and off the diamond in under 72 hours. The junior delivered game-changing hits to win the weekend series against Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark College before transitioning to a life-saving donor, flying to Texas for a critical stem cell donation to a blood cancer patient in need.
Hall of Fame
Baseball's Jason Andrew will be inducted into the PLU Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday night after a decorated career on the mound.
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Lutes of Summer
PLU baseball's Aaron Barber had an exciting summer, culminating in winning a West Coast League title with the Portland Pickles.
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace in 2022 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.
Last 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:
April 22 vs. Saint Martin's at 3:30 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