TACOMA - Trey Watt improved his record to 8-0, throwing a
complete-game five-hitter as Pacific Lutheran blanked host Puget
Sound, 6-0, in the first game of a Northwest Conference baseball
doubleheader at Logger Field.
The second game was suspended by heavy rain in the bottom of the
third inning with the Loggers leading 11-2. The game will be
resumed starting at noon on Sunday with two outs and the Loggers
still batting. The final game of the three-game series will follow
the conclusion of the rain-delayed contest.
Watt, a senior from Tualatin, Ore., was stellar in throwing his
second complete game of the season. He struck out seven, did not
walk a batter and retired the side in order five times. The Loggers
(13-17, 7-9) got a runner as far as third base only once in
the game.
The Pacific Lutheran offense, on the other hand, didn't have any
trouble putting runners on base. Bringing them home, however, was a
different story. The Lutes (26-6, 14-2), who left 14 runners on
base during the game, left the bases loaded in the first and
two runners on in the second. They finally broke through for a run
in the third when Josh Takayoshi and Dan Johansen hit consecutive
singles and advanced a base on Ryan Aratani's sacrifice bunt
before Brock Gates hit a single to score Takayoshi.
Puget Sound's Tim Fogarty continued to escape trouble through 6
2/3 innings in which he allowed nine hits and five walks but only
one run.
The Lutes finally broke through in the eighth against reliever
Colby Robinson, scoring three times to take a 4-0 lead. Corey Moore
led off with a single, moved up a base on Ethan Ottemiller's
sacrifice bunt and then took third on a passed ball. After Ben Shively was intentionally walked, Moore scored when Shively was
forced at second on Jaron Iwakami's grounder. Iwakami took second
on a throwing error and scored on a double by Sammy Davis, who then
scored on Takayoshi's third hit of the game.
PLU added two more runs in the ninth inning when Moore hit a
single to drive in Johansen, who led off with a double. The other
tally came when Shively drew a bases loaded walk.
The Lutes finished the game with 14 hits, including three each
by 2-3-4 hitters Davis, Takayoshi and Johansen. Gates and
Moore both added a pair of hits to the attack.
The second game is all Puget Sound with two outs in the bottom
of the third inning. The Loggers took a 3-0 lead in the first on
Mark Rockey's three-run homer, but the Lutes replied with two in
the top of the third on RBI singles by Johansen and Aratani. Puget
Sound has scored eight runs on nine hits in the bottom of the third
and has a runner on second base with two outs. Ryan Frost, PLU's
third pitcher, had just entered the game when heavy rain forced the
game's postponement.
- PLU -
