PARKLAND – Kyle Rossman made the most of his Pacific Lutheran home debut, throwing a one-hit shutout while the PLU offense exploded to give the 23rd-ranked Lutes a 14-0 Northwest Conference baseball victory over visiting Pacific Sunday afternoon at PLU Field.

Rossman picked up the first win of his PLU career after striking out eight while only throwing 90 pitches in the complete-game performance. He gave up a single to Donnie Bradley in the second at bat of the game and then faced 27 consecutive batters without allowing another base hit.

The sophomore transfer allowed only one base runner between the first and eighth inning, with Fernando Careaga reaching on a PLU error in the top of the seventh. Rossman quickly erased the runner by inducing a ground ball double play to end the inning. He finished the game with one walk, one hit batter and two strikeouts in the ninth inning, throwing 60 of his 90 pitches for strikes.

While Rossman was throwing his gem, the PLU offense jumped all over the Pacific pitching staff to the tune of six runs in the first inning and nine runs between the first two frames. PLU saw four different Pacific pitchers before recording the second out of the second inning, and the Lutes finished the day with a season-best 14 runs on 17 hits to go with 10 walks.

The Lutes chased Pacific starter Jon Inman in the first, scoring three runs on three hits before recording an out. Ben Welch and Tanner Williams opened the day with back-to-back doubles, and Jacob Clements followed with a single to score Williams and make it 2-0.

Nate Montgomery took over on the mound for Pacific at that point and barely had more success than Inman. Collin Nilson grounded out for the first out of the inning, but Tyler Thompson hit an RBI single to left, and after Landon Packard walked on four straight pitches Drew Oord laid down a perfect surprise bunt to load the bases. Four straight balls to Brett Johnson forced in another PLU run and sent Montgomery back to the dugout as Wyatt Moore came in to pitch.

After Moore picked up the second out of the inning, Welch came up with his second hit of the frame as he hit a two-run single to left field. By the time Williams grounded out to end the inning the Lutes had a 6-0 lead on six hits and a pair of walks.

PLU added three more in the second. Nilson hit a one-out single up the middle, and Thompson and Packard walked to load the bases. That brought Cole Kanazawa in to pitch for Pacific, and Oord welcomed him into the game with a two-run single to left center. One out later Curtis Wildung singled through the right side to score Packard and make it 9-0 PLU.

Kanazawa record five outs for the Boxers before coming out after a leadoff double by Packard in the bottom of the fourth. Packard came in to score two batters later when Johnson drove a double to left center, and Johnson scored on Welch's third hit of the day as the PLU shortstop singled to right. Dylan Miller pitched 1.1 innings for the Boxers, giving up a couple more runs as Nilson doubled off the top of the wall in left field in the bottom of the fifth. Nilson narrowly missed a home run, but Thompson stepped to the plate and did not miss as he crushed his first homer of the year over the wall in left to put two more on the board for PLU.

PLU's final run of the day came against Cody Ahlgrimm in the bottom of the sixth. Welch and Williams walked to begin the inning and Clements hit an infield single to load the bases. Nilson hit a sacrifice fly to center to give the Lutes the 14-0 lead. A walk to Kyler Blades loaded the bases again, but a groundout ended the inning.

By the end of the game Thompson and Welch had each driven in three runs, as Thompson went 2-for-4 with the homer and three runs scored and Welch went 3-for-4 with two walks and a pair of runs scored. Nilson also totaled three hits in four at bats, while Packard went 1-for-1 with three walks and a trio of runs scored. Oord tallied two hits and two RBI, while Johnson drove in two and Wildung compiled a pair of hits. Seven Pacific pitchers appeared in the game, with none lasting longer than two innings.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play while taking a 2-1 series win from Pacific, which falls to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the NWC. The Lutes head to Salem, Ore., next weekend to take on Willamette with first place in the early-season standings on the line. The Bearcats currently top the NWC standings, one game ahead of PLU, at 5-1 in conference play and 12-1 overall.