Setting the Scene: After a weekend in Oregon, the Lutes are back at home, hosting Linfield in the penultimate home series of the season.
Series History: The Lutes and Wildcats have met 157 times since 1980 with Linfield holding a 97-60 edge in the all-time series.
The two teams met six times last season with PLU winning four of those six showdowns in McMinnville, Oregon.
About the Lutes:Pacific Lutheran (11-18, 6-9 NWC) earned a series victory on the road against Lewis & Clark over the weekend before dropping a single game against Whitworth University on Tuesday afternoon.
PLU fell 10-4 to the Pios to open the weekend before rebounding with a 9-6 victory later in the day. The Lutes captured the series win on Sunday, outslugging the hosts 11-8 after putting up a trio of runs in the top of the ninth.
PLU’s fortunes were reversed on Tuesday, falling 10-1 to second-place Whitworth in a makeup game from earlier in the season.
Brody Phinney crushed it at the plate and on Monday was named the NWC Hitter of the Week. In the month of April, Phinney is hitting .478 at the plate with 12 RBIs and five extra base hits, including tow home runs while scoring five runs.
Aaron Barber leads the Lutes at the plate through the opening 29 games of the season with a .351 batting average and 17 RBIs. Ashton Barton provides the power, blasting a team-best five home runs with 21 RBIs and 14 extra base hits while the recently hot Phinney has 20 RBIs and three round trippers.
On the hill, Chris Moreno has been the workhorse, leading the team in both innings pitched (41) and strikeouts (50) with a 4.61 earned run average.
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.
About the Wildcats: Linfield (12-15, 6-8 NWC) heads to Tacoma having found its stride, winning three of its last four games.
The Wildcats rallied to a 3-2 win over George Fox to open its home series last weekend before conceding the opening six runs in a 10-6 setback in the second game of the day. Linfield came back and won the series on Sunday, blanking the Bruins 4-0 with Jacob Swenson and Brian Mannion combining for eight strikeouts on the day.
Linfield's good fortunes continued on Tuesday, picking up a 2-1 non-league win over Lewis & Clark. The Wildcats tossed six pitchers in the midweek tilt, striking out nine and allowing just two hits.
Elijah Maris is the Wildcats' top bat, boasting a .394 batting average with 16 extra base hits and 22 RBIs. Wyatt Hurley has a .340 batting average while Nick Holm offers a team-best 25 RBIs.
Camden Oram has seen the most work on the mound for the Wildcats with a 3.40 earned run average with 39 strikeouts in 53 innings of work. Brian Mannion has three saves with 25 punchouts in 19 innings of action.
Super Amann!
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear baseball pants.
Pacific Lutheran University baseball student-athlete Rowan Amann stepped up to the plate last week, donating lifesaving bone marrow after signing up and participating in the Get in the Game Registry Drive during D3Week during the spring of 2022.
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:
May 3 vs. Puget Sound 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