PARKLAND – Landon Packard hit his second home run of the weekend and drove in four runs as the 23rd-ranked Pacific Lutheran baseball team clinched its sixth straight Northwest Conference series victory with a 7-4 win over George Fox Sunday afternoon at PLU Field.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 19-8 overall and 12-6 in conference play, while George Fox falls to 12-16 overall and 8-7 in the NWC. The Lutes host Puget Sound Tuesday in a nonconference rivalry game at 4:30 p.m.

Packard powered his third homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning, but his two-run double in the bottom of the fifth helped the Lutes establish a lead they would not relinquish. Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, PLU chased George Fox starter Taylor Dunn with five runs on six hits in the frame.

Drew Oord singled to center to lead off the inning, and one out later Curtis Wildung forced a full-count walk to put two on. Jacob Bockelie delivered an 0-2 pitch through the left side to load the bases, and Connor Cantu followed with an 0-2 single of his own to score two and give the Lutes a 2-1 lead. With two outs and two on, Packard drove a two-run double to right center, and Tyler Thompson singled to score Packard and make it a 5-1 game.

George Fox pulled within two in the top of the seventh on a two-run triple by Kadyn Nannini. With the Lutes nursing a 5-3 advantage and the Bruins threatening with runners at the corners, closer AJ Konopaski came in to pick up the final out of the inning and preserve the lead. He picked up the final seven outs of the game, striking out four, to earn his NCAA Div. III-leading ninth save of the season.

PLU added runs in the seventh and eighth, both courtesy of Packard. The sophomore second baseman led off the seventh with a homer over the fence in left field, and he drove in the Lutes' final run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth after Cantu led off with a double.

George Fox added its final run in the top of the ninth as Mason Dunning homered off Konopaski, but the Lutes closed out the win on a groundout to second.

Cantu finished the game with four hits and added two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Bockelie, Thompson and Oord all tallied two hits. PLU totaled 14 hits in the game while limiting George Fox to six. Kyle Rossman earned his third win of the season, going 6.2 innings and allowing three earned runs before turning the ball over to the Lutes' All-American closer to record the multi-inning save. Dunn took the loss for George Fox after allowing five runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings.

PLU has now taken two of three in all six NWC series it has played this season. The Lutes have a bye next weekend before visiting Puget Sound for a three-game series on April 11-12 and closing out the conference schedule with a three-game home series against Lewis & Clark on April 18-19.

The Lutes will have a chance to earn the clinching win in the PLU Athletic Department's Drive to 125 this week. PLU Athletics programs have combined for 124 wins to this point in the 2014-15 academic year, and the 23rd-ranked baseball team will look to pick up the decisive win against cross-town rival Puget Sound on Tuesday.