TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team hopes to continue its good form this weekend as they travel to Caldwell, Idaho to play the College of Idaho in a three-game non-conference series.
 
Last weekend the Lutes (7-4, 2-1 Northwest Conference) opened up conference play, as they hosted George Fox University in a three-game series. The Lutes took the series, winning the first game on Saturday 3-1, falling in the second game 2-0, before edging the series finale 7-6 on Sunday. The Lutes also hosted cross-town rivals University of Puget Sound on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup, which the Lutes come out on top 5-4.
 
This was a great opening weekend of the Northwest Conference for the Lutes, as they took down preseason favorite George Fox, with strong pitching performances by the Lutes.
 
"Coming out and winning the series against the pre-season #1 team was a huge confidence booster for our team," said sophomore pitcher Justin Armbruester. "It really showed our young guys what competitive NWC baseball is and that our team is able to hang with anyone."
 
Armbruester had an impressive start in his first conference game on Saturday, going eight full innings and recording twelve strikeouts. On Monday he was named NWC Pitcher of the Week, the third time he's earned the award in his career.
 
"The conference opener is always a special game no matter the year, and to come out and go eight innings with 12 strikeouts, was a great start to conference play for the team and myself. George Fox is always a team who plays us hard and to get a series win against a tough team like Fox is huge for the remainder of conference play."
 
Armbruester is a sophomore this year and is enjoying life as a Lute. 
 
"I'm a business marketing major with a minor in innovation studies, with no current post-grad plans yet. My interest in this field came from my involvement in high school DECA, which is a marketing program across the USA,and also my involvement in sports."
 
Off the diamond and out of the classroom Armbruester remains very active and involved in other sports. 
 
"My hobbies outside of school and baseball are golf, fishing, hunting and spending time with family and friends."
 
Armbruester and the team are very much looking forward to this season and what it has to offer. 
 
"I'm looking forward to seeing where all the hard work our team put in this off-season will take us and what we be able to achieve both individually and as a team."
 
Mar. 2: PLU vs. College of Idaho (DH) in Caldwell, Idaho (12 p.m. Mountain Time)
Mar. 3: PLU vs. College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho (11 a.m. Mountain Time)
 
Series History: The Lutes and Coyotes have met seven times on the diamond with CoI winning all seven encounters. The two teams last met during the 2003 season. 
 
About the Coyotes: College of Idaho (9-11, 3-1 NAIA West) heads into the weekend having won three of its last four games to open NAIA West play against Oregon Institute of Technology. CoI got things rolling with a 3-2 extra innings win to open the series before smashing the Owls 9-1 to close out the doubleheader. The following day Oregon Tech prevailed 8-6 before the Yotes closed the series with a 7-6 win.
 
This is the second NWC opponent the Yotes have faced this season. CoI faced Whitworth University on Feb. 8 and 9 with the visiting Pirates winning two of the three games in the series.
 
Jake Bowman leads the team with a .357 batting average while Dylan Mansanarez has a .324 average with a team-high six doubles and 14 RBIs. On the mound, Hunter Boyd has made five starts with a 1.82 earned run average with 34 strikeouts while Richard Walker has been the workhorse, having tossed a team-high 32 2/3 innings.