Contact: Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – A strong night on the mound coupled with a big night at the plate powered the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team to a 9-1 victory over Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark College on Saturday in the opening game of the three-game weekend series.

The Lutes (3-6, 1-0 NWC) wasted little time getting on the board, plating a run in the top of the first with a Jacob Bockelie groundout scoring Connor Cantu who led off the game by drawing a walk. The host Pioneers (1-11, 0-4 NWC) pushed across a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame before a Tori Doten sacrifice fly gave PLU a 2-1 edge in the second inning. It would remain a tenuous one run advantage until the sixth inning with the Lutes tacking on insurance runs off RBI singles from Cantu and Bockelie.

"We did okay offensively," said Head Coach Nolan Soete. "We squandered multiple opportunities to score runs in the early innings. Cantu was a spark plug for us tonight and Gideon was a grinder tonight. He didn't have his best stuff, but he battled all night. Curran and Anderson did an excellent job in relief to close the game out."

A pair of miscues in the eighth, swelled PLU's lead even further with Chase Lariza scoring on a two-out error before Doten touched home plate on a wild pitch, giving PLU the 6-1 lead. PLU wasn't quite done with the offensive fireworks, plating three more in the ninth with RBIs from Anthony Gosline, Wesley Nixon, and Cantu.

Cantu paced the offense in the leadoff spot, finishing three-for-five with two RBis and two runs scored. Lariza touched home plate three times on the night while on the mound Chad Gideon collected the win. Gideon fanned eight in six innings of work, allowing no earned runs and just three hits. Andrew Curran tallied for strikeouts in two innings of middle relief with Nathan Anderson handling the ninth, retiring the side in order to seal the victory.

The Lutes and Pioneers finish off the series tomorrow morning with a doubleheader beginning at 10:30 a.m. on the campus of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.