ATHERTON, Calif. - Pacific Lutheran came into its three-game
non-conference baseball series with the Menlo Oaks ranked No. 14 in
this week's d3baseball.com Top 25, but you can expect the Lutes to
fall from that perch after they were swept aside in two Saturday
afternoon games.
The Oaks took 8-7 and 9-3 victories from the Lutes, who lost
both games despite collecting a total of 23 hits in the
doubleheader compared to 17 for the hosts.
Menlo, now 8-8 for the season, scored three times with two
outs in the bottom of the eighth to win the game. The
Oaks had three hits and two walks in the frame and scored the
game-winning run on a wild pitch.
The Lutes took a 4-0 lead in the second on run-scoring singles
by Ryan Aratani and Spencer Downs, followed by a two-run homer by
Corey Moore. PLU added runs in the third, fourth and seventh
innings, but could not shut the door on Menlo's late comeback.
Sammy Davis and Dan Johansen both had a pair of PLU's 10 hits in
the game. Max Beatty, who came on in relief of Trey Watt in the
bottom of the eighth, took the loss in his first appearance of the
season.
In the second game, Menlo held a narrow 3-2 lead until a
five-run sixth inning broke the game open. The Oaks scored the
five runs on three hits, a hit batter, a walk and a PLU error.
Pacific Lutheran collected 13 hits in the game, including three
by Davis and two each from Takayoshi and Ben Shively, but they left
a total of nine runners on base.
The two teams conclude their three-game series with a single
nine-inning game starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
- PLU -
