Setting the Scene: Pacific Lutheran gears up for its first homestand of the season, opening Northwest Conference play by welcoming George Fox to PLU Field.
Series History: The Lutes and Bruins have met 115 times since the 1981 campaign with PLU enjoying a comfortable 91-24 advantage in the series. The two rivals met six times last spring with GFU winning four of the six.
GFU won the regular season series 3-1 and edged the Lutes 6-5 in the opening game of the NWC Tournament but the Lutes exacted revenge the following day, edging the Bruins 5-3 to advance to the NWC Tournament Championship Game.
PLU took two of three in conference play but Pacific got the last laugh, winning two at the expense of the Lutes at the 2022 NWC Tournament held in Forest Grove. PLU earned revenge the following weekend with a 3-2 win to close out the regular season.
About the Lutes: PLU (8-4) opens conference play after two successful weeks on the road. The Lutes began the spring with a six-game tour of California, winning five of those games. That included a doubleheader sweep of Chapman (5-3 & 3-2) while also nabbing wins over Pomona-Pitzer (3-0), La Verne (2-1), and Redlands (8-6).
The following weekend, the Lutes played some of the nation's top teams with six games in the Deep South. PLU opened the trip by splitting a doubleheader against 19th-ranked Birmingham-Southern (Ala.) before dropping a pair of nail biters to 25th-ranked Piedmont (Ga.). The Lutes concluded the trip by hammering Emory 11-0 and 8-4.
Erin McGrath made headlines against Emory, shattering school records for career doubles (49) and career extra base hits (84). They were milestones that have stood since 1987 and 2006, respectively. That performance earned McGrath the NWC Hitter of the Week honor on Feb. 20.
Erin McGrath leads a potent Lute offense with a .512 batting average with a team-best 14 runs scored and 11 extra base hits. Kennedy Kila had a team-best 15 RBIs along with 109 extra base hits while hitting at a .432 clip.
Inside the circle, Kila is a perfect 3-0 with a 2.37 earned run average in 20 2/3 innings of work. Cassidy Conrad is the workhorse, leading the team in innings pitched (34) and strikeouts (16) while sporting a 3-1 record with three complete games.
About the Bruins: It's been a rocky start for George Fox, entering league play with a 2-4 record. George Fox opened the season with doubleheader splits in California against La Verne (6-1 & 7-10) and Pomona-Pitzer (5-4 & 0-4) before being swept by Whitter 9-8 and 3-2 on Feb. 12. GFU has been idle since then, having its series with Puget Sound postponed last weekend.
Kamryn Potter is hitting at a .444 clip with three home runs and six RBIs in the opening half dozen games of 2023. Sharon Tomei enters league play as a .333 hitter while Sydney Sandifer has six RBIs this spring.
Kami Gibson and Ashley Davis have handled a majority of the pitching duties, combining for 30 innings on the young season. Gibson has a 3.94 ERA with a team-high 11 strikeouts while Davis has five punch outs while limiting opposing hitters to a .263 batting average.
NWC Coaches' Poll
The Pacific Lutheran University softball team is projected to finish third in the Northwest Conference standings in 2023 according to the NWC's annual coaches' poll released on Jan. 31.
The Lutes (30-14 overall, 20-8 NWC in 2022) garnered 38 points in the poll to place third, finishing four points shy of second ranked George Fox University.
Reigning league champion Linfield University sits atop the rankings with 49 points and seven of the eight first place votes. GFU claimed the remaining first place vote. Whitworth University is fourth with 28 points followed by Lewis & Clark College (26 points), and Pacific University (17 points).
Willamette University is seventh with 16 points while crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound sits in eighth with eight points.
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace on August 31 through the department's partnership with Opendorse. Learn more about the deal here: LINK. 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.
New Look Lutemobile for 2023
The new Lutemobile is here! During the first week in January, the Lutes' bus partner Bellair Charters, unveiled its newest PLU branded bus as it took the men's and women's hoops teams to Oregon.
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.
To download the app to your smartphone or tablet, visit the Apple App Store (DOWNLOAD LINK) or Google Play (DOWNLOAD LINK) and search for "PLU Athletics."
Next Home Games:
Mar. 18: PLU hosts Lewis & Clark (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