Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University baseball closes out its home schedule this weekend, welcoming in-state rival Whitman College to PLU Field for a four-game series. The first three games will be Northwest Conference games with the final contest a non-conference affair.
Series History: The Lutes and Blues have met 138 times since the 1980 season with Pacific Lutheran holding a commanding 98-40 edge in the series. Despite the massive Lute edge in the series, its been all Whitman as of late with the Blues winning the last eight encounters. That includes a 9-1 non-conference victory back on Feb. 22 in McMinnville, Oregon, a game that saw the Blues score four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the seventh to secure the win.
Last year's series was also played in Tacoma with PLU coming up short 3-1, 7-4, and 7-2.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (13-18, 6-12 NWC) returned to the win column on Tuesday afternoon, blasting local rival Saint Martin's University 8-2.
Carson Burke set the tone against the Division II Saints, belting his team-leading ninth home run of their season in the bottom of the first. Saint Martin's responded in the top of the second, tying the game at 1-1.
Pacific Lutheran (13-18) regained its lead in the second, pouring in a trio of runs. Ethan Keintz drew a walk to lead off the inning, stealing both second and third base before getting driven home by Lukas Delisle. Delisle later scored after a Saint error kept the inning alive while Braeden Lundberg later scored by stealing home to make it a 4-1 cushion.
Lundberg drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning to score Rochne Beecham while the Saints closed the gap to three in the seventh, scratching across an unearned run. PLU answered in the bottom of the seven with a Beecham single scoring pinch runner Kyler Gerber. Gerber would double in Brody Phinney the following inning while Keintz scored Gerber later in the frame to make it an 8-2 Lute advantage.
Seven different Lutes had a base hit while six different Lutes had an RBI. Lundberg and Beecham led the way, both collecting a pair of hits.
PLU's pitching staff combined for seven strikeouts and allowed just four hits on the day. Jonathan Cohen got he start and allowed just one hit in two innings of work before turning it over to Andrew Hickman. Hickman struck out three in 2 1/3 innings of action. Matthew Sherwood didn't allow a hit in 1 2/3 innings of action while Cade Hamel struck out one and allowed no earned runs in his one inning of work. Jon Crawley tossed the final two innings, allowing no baserunners and fanning two.
With the victory, PLU has now logged wins against teams from all three NCAA divisions. In addition to today's win over the Division II Saints, the Lutes had a memorable 3-1 victory at the expense of the University of Washington back on March 18.
Aaron Barber leads the team at the dish with a .325 batting average and 22 RBIs while Rutger Youch boasts a .316 average with 22 RBIs, 25 runs scored, and a team-best 17 stolen bases. Brody Phinney is a .313 hitter, scoring a team-high 27 runs while Carson Burke has a team-high 23 RBIs and nine home runs.
Freshman sensation Alex Lopez is having a banner season, owning a 4-2 record with a 3.02 earned run average with 28 strikeouts. Matthew Sherwood has a team-best 36 strikeouts in 45 innings of work while Kamryn Swartz has been clutch as a reliever with three saves.
About the Blues: Whitman (18-15, 9-9 NWC) heads to Tacoma looking to snap a three-game slide after getting swept by Linfield University at home last weekend.
The series opener was a wild one with the visiting Wildcats scoring early and often in a 29-10 victory that included a combined 33 hits and nine errors. Game two saw the host Blues outhit the Wildcats 10-8 but it didn't translate into the win column, with a late rally falling short 7-6.
Whitman outhit Linfield again on Saturday, blasting two home runs in the seventh inning but an eight run outburst by the Wildcats sabotaged the Blues the next frame as Linfield escaped with the 8-5 win to secure the sweep.
Nate Korahais is Whitman's top hitter, owning a .336 batting average with 21 RBIs and 26 runs scored. Brandon Ting is a .333 hitter with 21 RBIs while Halen Otter offers a .331 batting average and a 1.177 OPS with a team-best 14 home runs, 21 extra base hits, and 48 RBIs.
Russell Petersen has seen the most action on the hill, collecting 62 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings of action across nine starts. Wyatt Adams has 49 strikeouts in nine starts while Oliver Brown boasts 41 across nine starts.
Thank You Seniors!
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.
Mr. 200
Head Coach Nolan Soete earned his 200th career win as head coach in a 12-4 victory over Chapman University on April 13. 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 Game:
May 3 vs. Puget Sound (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