Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University baseball squad welcomes crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound to PLU Field this afternoon, for a midweek non-conference showdown.
Series History: The Lutes and Loggers have met 165 times since the 1980 campaign with Pacific Lutheran enjoying a 105-59-1 edge in the all-time series.
The intracity rivals met four times last season, splitting the series. PLU pummeled Puget Sound 18-12 in a non-league game on April 2 but the tide turned in conference play. The Loggers swept the Lutes 7-6 and 4-0 on May 3 before PLU closed the conference series with an 8-3 victory.
About the Lutes: It was a week of high highs and low lows for the Pacific Lutheran (6-10, 3-6 NWC) baseball team. The Lutes stunned the University of Washington 3-1 on Tuesday night only be be humbled over the weekend by NWC rival Pacific University with the Boxers coming into PLU Field and winning all three games of the series.
Saturday saw the Lutes fall 8-2 and 4-3 to Pacific while closing the series on Monday with an 11-4 defeat. The fifth inning proved to be PLU's achilles heel in both games one and three, yielding five runs in the inning in the opener and surrendering seven runs in the fifth in the series finale.
Rutger Youch had a big day at the plate on Saturday, collecting four hits and three stolen bases over the doubleheader while on Monday it was Rochne Beecham and Brayden Adcox coming up big at the plate, both finishing three-for-four with a run scored.
Aaron Barber leads the Lutes at the plate with a .377 batting average through the first 16 games of the season with a team-best 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Five more Lutes are hitting above .300 including Rochne Beecham who has eight extra base hits.
Ethan Keintz brings the lumber and is second on the team in RBIs with 14 while Carson Burke has 13 and a team-best four home runs. Rutger Youch has been a speedster on the bases with a team-best 12 stolen bases.
Chris Moreno is the team workhorse, having thrown 23 2/3 innings this season with a team-best 17 punchouts. Matthew Sherwood has 15 strikeouts while Logan Egge has 16 with a 1.20 earned run average across a half dozen relief appearances.
About the Loggers: Puget Sound (10-7, 4-2 NWC) heads across town for a midweek non-conference game riding a modest two-game win streak.
The Loggers opened conference play back on March 1 in Spokane, taking two of three from host Whitworth University. Puget Sound dropped four games to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) by a combined 30-3 scoreline the following weekend before resuming NWC action on March 17 against Whitman College. The Loggers split with the Blues that day, winning 10-6 and falling 6-2 before earning a doubleheader sweep the next day, defeating Whitman 4-1 in the conference series finale before pummeling the Blues 19-1 in a non-league contest.
Ryan Spero is the team's leading hitter with at least 40 at-bats, boasting a .409 batting average while Cody Hirano is hitting at a .313 clip. Kahiau Teruya and Drew Kamihara share the team lead in RBIs with eight.
On the mound, Brett Harvey has seen the most work, making five starts with a 2-2 record and 24 1/3 innings pitched. He also leads the team in strikeouts with 21. Zach Robman has been lights out as a closer with four saves in seven appearances with a 1.42 ERA and 16 punch outs.
Bow Down to PLU
Pacific Lutheran (6-7, 3-3 NWC) picked up a historic win last Tuesday night, 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 six 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.
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 5 vs. Linfield (DH) 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