Setting the Scene: The Lutes are back at the friendly confines of PLU Field and host in-state rival Whitworth University in a penultimate NWC home series of the season.
Series History: The Lutes and Pirates have battled 141 times since the 1980 season with the scales tilted 75-66 in favor of Whitworth. PLU won three of the four meetings last spring, including picking up a 6-4 victory to eliminate the Pirates from the NWC Tournament.
About the Lutes: PLU (16-8, 9-6 NWC) returns home to Tacoma after dropping two of three games last weekend in Portland against Lewis & Clark College.
John Graham blasted two home runs as the Lutes surged to a 6-1 lead but was unable to contain a late Pioneer rally, ending on the wrong side of an 8-7 scoreline.
Game two, the Lutes conceded the opening three runs before piling on four in the fourth inning and eighth in the sixth inning for a 13-7 victory. Jordan Haworth finished three-for-six at the dish with three RBIs while Ashton Barton and Braeden Lundberg both drove in a trio of RBIs.
PLU led 3-2 in Sunday's rubber match before yielding 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth as L&C secured the series win by walking away with a 13-7 victory.
Andy Schmitz is hitting at a .367 clip with 11 extra base hits while Cole Trotignon leads the team in RBIs with 29 on the season. Trotignon is additionally tied with Tori Doten for a team-best six home runs.
Tommy Snyder has a team0best 53 1/3 innings pitched with a team-high 46 strikeouts with fellow starter Spencer Howell has 36 Ks. The duo are a combined 9-0 on the year. Noah Ferguson has two wins and three saves as a reliever, netting 31 strikeouts in just 19 1/3 innings of work.
National Recognition: Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association released its first regular season poll of the year this week with PLU ranking 12th nationally. Pacific Lutheran cements a place in the poll after earning wins over 10th-ranked University of La Verne, 29th-ranked California Lutheran University, and Texas Lutheran University, a team that is the top squad receiving votes.
About the Pirates: Whitworth (5-21, 4-11 NWC) heads across the Cascades having dropped 10 of its last 11 games. That stretch includes series sweeps by foes Pacific University and Willamette University.
Last weekend, the Pirates edged George Fox University 9-7 to open the series and snap an eight-game skid. The Bruins took game two 6-5 in extra innings before earning the series win with a 5-3 triumph on Sunday.
Jansen Sweum leads the Pirates at the plate with a .314 batting average with 18 RBIs and 17 extra base hits. Sweum is the only Whitworth player hitting above .300 with at least 20 at-bats.
Hunter Dryden is the workhorse for Whitworth on the hill, amassing 46 innings pitched with 44 strikeouts with a 3.33 earned run average.
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Next Home Game:
Apr. 15: PLU hosts 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