ANTHEM, Ariz. - In a Friday afternoon battle of teams ranked in
the Collegiate Baseball Division III top 25 preseason
poll, Pacific Lutheran exploded for nine runs in the top of the
ninth inning to take a 10-2 victory over Cal Lutheran at the
Arizona Desert Classic.
With the victory, the No. 25-ranked Lutes improved to 5-0 while
handing the No. 20 Kingsmen their first loss in five contests. The
offensive explosion backed winning pitcher Trey Watt, who allowed
one earned run on six hits in eight innings of work. The senior
right-hander struck out 10 and walked none, throwing 99 pitches in
his eight innings.
"It was the best performance of Trey's career at PLU," said
Lutes' head coach Geoff Loomis.
Pinch hitter Jaron Iwakami led off the ninth for the Lutes
and singled sharply through the left side, and he was replaced
on the bases by Jacob Olsufka. Carl Benton followed with a line
drive single up the middle and Corey Moore came on as a pinch
runner. With one out, both runners advanced a base on a wild
pitch, and Dan Johansen was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Josh Takayoshi drew a walk to make the score 2-1, and
Ben Shively followed with an RBI single through the right side
to make it 3-1.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Brock Gates blasted
a grand slam homer over the batter's eye in straightaway
center field. The homer was the third in two games for the
sophomore first baseman. PLU scored three more in
the inning to make the score 10-1. The Lutes collected their nine
runs on eight hits.
Designated hitter Ryan Frost had four hits and both Johansen and
Gates had a pair to lead the Lutes' 16-hit attack. PLU had at least
one hit from every spot in the batting order.
The Lutes return to action in the Arizona Desert Classic at 10
a.m. Saturday when they face Whittier, which is 1-1 in the
tournament and 1-4 overall.
- PLU -
