TACOMA, Wash. - The defending Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University baseball team heads to Arizona to open the lid on the 2019 season on Thursday.
 
The Lutes (25-17, 18-6 NWC in 2018) will play four neutral site games while in Arizona, including three against NCAA Division III Tournament teams from a season ago. The season kicks off on Thursday with a game against the University of Redlands. PLU faces University of La Verne and Chapman University on Friday before closing out the trip on Saturday with a showdown against the University of Texas-Dallas.
 
The Lutes head into the season with a mix of experience and youth, returning five of the squad's nine All-Conference performers from the 2018 NWC Championship team. 
 
"We got a lot of new faces obviously but we also have some good returners at the top," said 2018 NWC Coach of the Year Nolan Soete. "Probably going to have 3-4 freshman in the lineup every day but the expectation is that we're going to try our best to compete for a conference title."
 
Headlining that group is All-West Region Selection and the NWC Player of the Year in Jacob Bockelie. The Shoreline, Washington native led the conference in walks, drawing 38 on the season while ranking second in the league in batting average (.389), third in home runs (eight), and fourth in runs batted in (49).
 
Also returning is position players Marques Carlson and Max Cummings who both earned Honorable Mention All-NWC a season ago.  Carlson hit .304 last season with 25 RBIs while Cummings hit at a .326 clip with 15 RBIs and 17 runs scored. Cummings additionally was lights out as a fielder, collecting 51 putouts and one assist with no errors on the year.
 
The Lutes have been one of the nation's best fielding teams during Soete's tenure but committing an uncharacteristic 71 errors last season, finishing the year with just a .957 fielding percentage. 
 
"It's a focus of improvement. Last year we under-performed defensively after leading the nation in fielding percentage in 2017 and being top five in 2016. We need to clean it up a little bit and I think we will. We had some young guys at some key positions last year and defensively we need to be better than we were in 2018."
 
On the mound, the Lutes return Second Team All-NWC selection Justin Armbruester along with Honorable Mention All-NWC honoree Alex Gregory. Armbruester is slated to be one of the Lutes' aces this season again after tossing 66 1/3 innings a season ago, netting a team-high 62 strikeouts in 14 appearances. Gregory was the Lutes top reliever last season but will be moved into a starting role for 2019. Gregory boasted a 2.59 earned run average in 19 appearances, racking up five wins and five saves in 55 2/3 innings of work.
 
"Justin Armbruester has really taken the next step and gotten himself into really good shape and he's throwing well for this time of year. Our rotation if I had to put one together right now would be Armbruester, Gregory, and Justin Tucker. I loved having Gregory on the back end but he's too valuable not to start."
 
Filling the void in the bullpen will be veterans Jacob Mortensen (49 IP, 21 Ks), Andrew Curran (29 IP, 30 Ks), and Janson Pederson (27 IP, 12 Ks) along with a crop of freshman. 
 
"Curran has looked great so far, I'm impressed where he's at physically and mentally. Mortensen and some freshman I'm excited about include Tommy Snyder and Matt Franceschina. We have a mix of experience and youth in the pen. Mortensen, Peterson, Tanner Zuber and Curran have all been there and played some big games, and then we have some freshman that have never done anything yet, so it should be interesting."
 
The 2019 Lutes head into the season with arguably the most athletic team under Soete's tenure with a team made up of five seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores, and 15 freshman. 
 
"The freshman class in general I've been really impressed with. They're a very athletic group and a group that's not scared to compete. They go out there and if you're the average fan, you'd never guess they're freshman. This might be the most athletic team overall we've had in a long time. It's definitely a young team but we're not going to use youth as an excuse and these guys are ready to play."
 
The Lutes are looking to gel as a team and hit the ground running this weekend against some of the top teams in the west region. 
 
"We're playing some good teams down there and we're looking to compete. I want to see these guys get after it and compete. This team needs to show continuous growth on a weekly basis and our goal is to get continuously better throughout the season."
 
Feb. 7: PLU vs. Redlands in Tucson, Ariz. (12 p.m.)
 
Series History: The Lutes and Bulldogs have met 13 times on the diamond with PLU holding a 7-6 edge in the series that first began in 1995. PLU has won the last three games in the series, including a 4-3 win during the 2014 season. 
 
About the Bulldogs: Redlands (33-13, 19-5 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2018) was an NCAA Tournament team a season ago. The Bulldogs opened up the 2019 season last weekend, dropping games by 4-2 and 8-6 scorelines to Pacific University. 
 
Andrew Renteria led Redlands during the Pacific series, hitting .500 with three RBIs while Tony Rosario also finished three-for-five. 
 
Chris Fousek has a 0.00 earned run average, pitching six total innings in the Pacific series while striking out eight. Andrew Rueter tossed 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts while yielding three earned runs. 
 
Feb. 8: PLU vs. La Verne in Tucson, Ariz. (10 a.m.)
 
Series History: The Lutes and Leopards have met on 15 occasions with PLU holding a 9-6 edge in the all-time series. The two teams met four times during the 2016 season with PLU winning three of the four games, outscoring the Leopards 37-19 in those games.
 
About the Leopards: La Verne (29-14, 19-5 SCIAC in 2018) advanced to the SCIAC Tournament during the 2018 season before getting ousted by Chapman by a 10-3 scoreline. 
 
The Leopards return a pair of Third Team All-West Region selections in Adam Santa Cruz and Christopher Peres. Santa Cruz boasted a .404 batting average last season with 22 RBIs while Peres maintained a .352 average with 22 RBIs while also logging 40 1/3 innings on the mound, collecting nine saves and striking out 49. Cody Norman and Christopher Arcos return after throwing 68 2/3 and 61 1/3 innings respectively last season. Norman led the team with 58 punchouts while Arcos had 50.
 
Feb. 8: PLU vs. Chapman in Tucson, Ariz. (2 p.m.)
 
Series History: The Panthers hold a 5-4 edge in the all-time series that dates back to the 1997 season. The two teams last met in 2012 with the Lutes holding a three-game win streak in the series. 
 
About the Panthers: Chapman (35-13, 15-9 SCIAC in 2018) was the SCIAC Tournament Champion last season, outslugging Redlands 20-12 in the championship game. The Panthers season continued at the NCAA West Region before bowing out 6-2 against Texas-Dallas.
 
Chapman was picked as the preseason favorite to repeat as league champs in the SCIAC Coaches' Poll. Returning to a potent Panther offense is Alex Tsuruda who hit .364 with 23 RBIs and nine doubles along with Third Team All-West Region puck Tristan Kevitch who hit .382 with 12 doubles and seven home runs. 
 
On the mound is Second Team All-Region selection Tyler Peck who had a team-high 98 strikeouts in just 76 1/3 innings of labor. 
 
Feb. 9: PLU vs. Texas-Dallas in Tucson, Ariz. (11 a.m.)
 
Series History: The Lutes and Comets have met four times with the series deadlocked at two wins apiece. The teams last met in Arizona during the 2015 season with PLU earning 11-8 and 9-3 wins over UTD. 
 
About the Comets: Texas-Dallas (32-17, 17-7 American Southwest Conference in 2018) ripped through the ASC Tournament undefeated and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before having the season end in a 10-3 setback to NWC Tournament Champion Willamette University.
 
UTD returns five All-Conference picks from a season ago, including All-Region selections Ryan Burciaga and Thomas Craig. Burciaga hit .315 with 14 doubles and four home runs while Craig sported a .341 average with nine doubles and three home runs. On the mound, the Comets will rely on Logan McPherson and Josiah Rohns as the only returning pitchers from a staff that ranked third in the ASC with a 4.44 earned run average.