Setting the Scene: After a historic upset of the Big Ten Conference's University of Washington, the Lutes are back at home and resume Northwest Conference play with a three-game weekend series against Pacific University.
Series History: The Lutes and Boxers have met 123 times on the diamond since the 1980 campaign with PLU holding an 83-60 edge in those games.
Last season the Lutes won the series, sweeping the Boxers 12-7 and 16-1 on April 20 in Forest Grove, Oregon before dropping the series finale 7-2 the following day.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (6-7, 3-3 NWC) picked up a historic win on Tuesday night, unseating the Washington Huskies 3-1 at Husky Ballpark.
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.
Rochne Beecham opened the scoring with a two-RBI double in the top of the second inning. The D1 Huskies scored a run in the third before Ethan Keintz homered in the fourth inning for what turned out to be the final run of the game.
PLU’s pitching staff was on point on Tuesday with Chris Moreno, Kamryn Swartz, and Matthew Sherwood combining for six strikeouts and scattering eight hits.
Keintz was on fire at the plate, finishing the game three-for-four.
The following night the Huskies earned revenge, utilizing tow big innings to secure a 12-0 victory.
Aaron Barber leads the Lutes at the plate with a .400 batting average through the first 13 games of the season with a team-best 15 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Four more Lutes are hitting above .300 including Rochne Beecham who has seven extra base hits.
Carson Burke has four home runs this season and is second on the team in Rbis with 12 while Rutger Youch has been a speedster on the bases with a team-best nine stolen bases.
Chris Moreno is the team workhorse, having thrown 19 1/3 innings this season with a team-best 16 punchouts. Matthew Sherwood has 14 strikeouts while Logan Egge has 12 with a minuscule 0.84 earned run average across five relief appearances.
About the Boxers: Pacific (2-10, 2-4 NWC) had a rocky start to the season, dropping its opening nine games before securing a series win last weekend at the expense of Linfield University.
The Boxers busted out of their nine game slide to open the season on Sunday, etching out a 3-2 extra innings victory over the Wildcats at Chuck Bafaro Stadium. Linfield led 2-1 before Davis Koester drove in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. After three scoreless innings it was pinch hitter Matthew Pavao playing the role of here with an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th to push across the winning score.
Game two of the day saw a late rally fall short in a 7-5 setback before closing the series with a 5-2 win on Monday.
Davis Koester is Pacific's leading hitter, sporting a .346 batting average. Trevor Kazahaya has a team-best five doubles and four runs scored while Matt Gibbs has a tempest five RBIs. The Boxers are hitting just .209 as a team through the first 12 games of 2025.
Nicholas Saelens has a been a workhorse on the mound, making four starts and striking out 14 with a 5.63 earned run average. Governor Aufranc has tossed 22 innings with 16 strikeouts and a 4.09 ERA.
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:
March 26 vs. Puget Sound at 3 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