Lutes Take Two from Whits at Borleske
News Release Date:
Saturday, April 18
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Pacific Lutheran upped its Northwest Conference baseball
record to 21-5 and sits alone in second place after sweeping a pair of games,
8-3 and 29-14, from Whitman College Saturday afternoon at Borleske
Stadium.
The loss dropped Whitman to 2-19 in conference play.
|
| Blaine Mercado |
The
Lutes got the win for first-game starter Scott Wall by scoring five runs in the
seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie. Wall tossed six innings, scattering seven
hits while fanning five. Both runs charged against him were
unearned.
Blaine Mercado started on the hill for Whitman
and held the Lutes to six hits and two runs – only one of them earned – through
six innings. As the junior right-hander tired in the seventh, Pacific Lutheran
took advantage, pushing across five runs on five hits.
|
| Jason Sease |
After Pacific
Lutheran scored single runs in the second and third innings for an early lead,
Whitman evened the count with two runs in the bottom of the third. Brian
Kitamura reached base on a throwing error, Matt
Morris-Rosenfeld singled through the right side, and Jason
Sease rapped a run-scoring double down the right-field line. Mercado
plated a second run with a ground-out.
With three hits apiece, Matt
Akridge and Ben Shively knocked in two runs each to spark PLU’s offense. Josh
Takayoshi had two hits for the Lutes.
Whitman got two hits each from
Mercado, Morris-Rosenfeld, Jay Richards and Patrick
Stauffer. The Missionaries stranded 11 baserunners in the
game.
Saturday’s second game held little excitement after a barrage of
nine PLU runs in the sixth inning gave the visitors a 20-6 lead. The Lutes, who
lead the NWC in team batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage
and runs scored, banged out a whopping 29 hits.
 |
| Jay Richards |
Shively had a monster
game at the plate, ripping six hits – including a home run and three doubles –
and collecting nine RBI. Kris Hansen added four hits while Akridge had
four.
Freshman Peter Olson, who started on the mound for
Whitman, held the Lutes in check early in the game as the Missionaries inched in
front 3-1 after three innings. Singles by Mercado and Stauffer, sandwiched
around a Dan White sacrifice fly and a passed ball, gave
Whitman its first two runs in the second frame.
Kitamura singled to open
the third inning, moved to second base on a Richards single, and scored
Whitman’s third run on an errant pick-off attempt.
After that, it was all
Pacific Lutheran. The Lutes scored 19 runs over the next three innings to blow
the game wide open. Shively and Matt Wolford smacked back-to-bach home runs in
the seventh inning.
Whitman also kept scoring, just not at the same pace
as PLU. Mercado had three hits and three RBI. Stauffer and Erik
Korsmo added two hits each.
The teams play two seven-inning
games on Sunday to finish the four-game series.
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CONTACT: Dave HoldenSports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
holden@whitman.edu; (509) 527-5902
345 Boyer Ave.