ALOHA, Ore. – Mitchell Baldridge continued to establish himself as one of the top golfers in the Northwest Conference, claiming medalist honors by five strokes to lead the Pacific Lutheran men's golf team to a third-place showing at the Culturame Classic at The Reserve Golf Club.

Baldridge posted consecutive round scores of 71 to finish with a 2-under-par 142 at the 6,819-yard, par-72 course. The PLU freshman was the only golfer to finish the weekend under par, with his score sitting five strokes ahead of George Fox's Halen Davis and Willamette's Ryan Kukula, who tied for second place.

Thomas Huddleston was PLU's second finisher, placing 11th with a final score of 154 (76-78). Zach Martinson tied for 14th (74-82—156), with Ryan Fenton finishing one stroke behind Martinson to tie for 16th (80-77—157) and Justin Lee rounding out PLU's quintet in a tie for 28th (79-84—163). Sevryn Modahl (79-81—160) and Kevin McCrossin (82-82—164) golfed as independents.

A tight team race saw Willamette, George Fox and Pacific Lutheran separated by only three strokes following Saturday's first round, and the final scores were almost as close. Willamette held on to win the team title with a 26-over 602 (297-305), while George Fox finished three strokes back at 605 (298-307) and PLU six strokes back (300-308—608).

Lewis & Clark took fourth (312-312—624), followed by Linfield (314-317—631), Whitman (337-326—663) and Pacific (335-335-670). PLU concludes the fall season in two weeks, when the Lutes will travel to Newberg, Ore., for the Northwest Conference Fall Classic at Chehalem Glenn. The outcome of the NWC Fall Classic counts 25 percent toward the annual team championship, which PLU won in 2013-14.