PARKLAND - Max Beatty threw a complete-game, five-hit shutout Saturday to lead the Pacific Lutheran Lutes to a 4-0 Northwest Conference baseball win over the visiting Puget Sound Loggers at the PLU baseball field.

The win marked the initial time in six tries this season that the Lutes won the first game of a Northwest Conference baseball series. They improved their overall record to 14-13 and their conference mark to 9-7, while at the same time dropping the Loggers to 12-14 overall and 10-6 in the conference.

Beatty was superb on Saturday to improve his season record to 4-3. In allowing only five singles, Beatty did not give up more than one hit in an inning. No Puget Sound runners got as far as third base, and only two got as far as second base, one on a throwing error and the other on a single and wild pitch.

Pacific Lutheran scored on unearned run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Jaron Iwakami hit a single into centerfield, moved to second on a walk, went to third on a long fly out, and then scored when pitcher Matt Robinson booted Ryan Aratani's two-out bouncer to the mound.

The Lutes left plenty of runners on base - in fact, seven in the first three innings - before adding another run in the fourth. Brock Gates hit a two-out single to right field to chase home Jacob Hoffman, who earlier hit a double. PLU made it 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth against relief pitcher Luke Englert. Iwakami hit his second single of the game, advanced on a passed ball, and then scored on a double by Gates. Johansen, who was hit by a pitch just before the hit by Gates, came in on Aratani's single.

Beatty made the lead stand up, and the Lutes had the series-opening victory.

PLU finished with 11 hits, including two each by Iwakami, Gates and Aratani.

The two teams close out the three-game series with a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, first pitch scheduled for noon.

- PLU -