Setting the Scene: After playing the opening eight games of the season on the road, the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team gets to finally enjoy the comforts of home, welcoming Northwest Conference rival George Fox University to PLU Field for a three-game series.
Series History: The Lutes and Bruins have battled 103 times on the diamond since the series began in 1996 with George Fox holding a 54-49 advantage in the all-time series. The two squads met three times last spring with the host Bruins winning the series two games to one. George Fox took the opening games 9-8 and 6-3 on March 8 before the Lutes earned revenge the following day with an 8-5 victory.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (3-5, 1-2 NWC) is back in action for its home opener after having a bye week last weekend. The Lutes began NWC play two weeks ago in Portland, facing Lewis & Clark College in a three-game series. Rutger Youch was unstoppable in the opener, driving in six runs and finishing a triple away from the cycle in an 8-3 PLU victory. Success eluded the Lutes the rest of the weekend with the host River Otters scoring three runs in the seventh inning to escape with a 7-6 victory before taking Sunday's rubber match 11-7 after exploding for seven runs in the seventh inning. Sunday's finale saw Carson Burke have a big day at the plate, finishing two-for-four with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Despite dropping two of three against the River Otters, the Lutes actually won the overall season series thanks to a pair of non-conference wins on Feb. 21 with PLU pummeling the hosts 18-5 and 7-4.
Kyle Tat leads the Lutes in batting average (.478), slugging percentage (.783), and on-base percentage (.594) through the opening eight games of the season. Tat also has two home runs, 10 RBIs, and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Rutger Youch is hitting at a .394 clip with a team-high five doubles and 12 RBIs while Carson Burke has two round trippers and a .333 average. Ethan Keintz is the fourth Lute hitting above .300 with at least 20 at-bats, boasting a .323 average heading into the weekend with a team-best four stolen bases. Matthew Sherwood has seen the most action on the hill for the Lutes, posting a 4.60 earned run average in 15 2/3 innings pitched. Sherwood boasts 16 strikeouts in his three appearances with a 2-1 record. Chris Moreno has tossed 13 1/3 innings with a 1-1 record while Osei Kimora has 11 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings of work. Alex Lopez is the fourth Lute with at least 10 innings, boasting nine strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings of action.
About the Bruins: George Fox (5-9, 3-3 NWC) heads to Tacoma looking to shed a two-game slide. The Bruins downed Linfield University 6-3 back on March 1 to avoid being swept in the opening conference series of the season before collecting a doubleheader sweep the following weekend on the road at the expense of Whitman College. The Bruins blasted the Blues 17-10 in the opener before squeaking out a 5-3 win in game two. GFU almost secured a weekend sweep, owning a 7-1 lead in game three before Whitman battled back, scoring seven runs over the final three innings including a walkoff single for the win in the ninth.
George Fox's funk continued on Tuesday afternoon, dropping a 13-8 contest against Division II Western Oregon University. That slugfest saw the Wolves crank out 17 hits and generated 10 runs over a two-inning stretch to take the win.
Garrett Strube is the Bruins' leader at the plate with a .340 batting average and a team-best 18 hits. Strube is additionally the only GFU player hitting above .300 with at least 30 at bats. BJ Tokushima leads the way with 11 RBIs and six extra base hits while Brennan Bates has a team-high 11 runs scored. As a team, the Bruins have struggled at the plate, owning a .228 batting average as a team.
Lucas Plenert is the team leader in strikeouts with 24 punch outs in 19 innings of action. Michael Singleton has 23 strikeouts and a team-high 21 innings pitched. Aidan Ray has the best earned run average of a player with at least 20 innings, owning a 2.25 ERA across four starts with a 2-1 record.
NWC Preseason Poll
The Lutes look to exceed expectations and return to the NWC Tournament after being picked seventh in the annual NWC preseason coaches' poll. The Lutes tallied 23 points, owning a two-point edge on eighth ranked Willamette University. Reigning Champion Whitworth University was picked to repeat as champion with 63 points and seven of the nine first place votes. Second ranked Pacific University and third ranked University of Puget Sound both earned a first place vote.
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.
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 Series:
Mar. 28 & 29 vs. Willamette 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