Lutes Split Games at Cascade Northwest Challenge
WILSONVILLE, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran split a pair of baseball decisions on Sunday at the Cascade Northwest Challenge, beating Oregon Tech, 4-2, before losing to Concordia, 6-5.
Nathan Eisenhauer pitched the Lutes (4-5) to the opening win, allowing an earned run on four hits while striking out eight in seven innings. Dan Johansen picked up his first save of the season, giving up an unearned run in two innings of work.
PLU took a 1-0 lead in the third with an unearned run, and then scored twice in the sixth on only one hit to break a 1-1 tie. The Lutes added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Nicholas Hall led off with a single and then scored on Johansen's double.
The Lutes finished with eight hits, including two by Johansen.
Pacific Lutheran took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game before Concordia rallied with a pair of runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Ryan Frost went the first eight innings, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking one. Nic Delikat entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and took the loss, giving up two earned runs on two hits. He gave up a two-out, game-tying single before Concordia won the game on a base hit against reliever Bret Handy.
The Lutes collected 10 hits in the contest, including two apiece by Johansen, Corey Moore and Ryan Boyles. Ethan Ottemiller and Boyles, hitting in the eighth and ninth spots in the order, both drove in a pair of runs for PLU.
PLU finished 3-1 at the Cascade Northwest Challenge. "The good news is that we had four solid starting pitching efforts and made only one error in each game defensively," PLU head coach Geoff Loomis said. "We played our style of baseball this weekend, which is a step in the right direction."
The Lutes open their 2011 home schedule at 11 a.m. Saturday with a non-conference doubleheader against Saint Martin's. The following day, the Lutes and Saints play a single game starting at noon in Lacey.
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