SALEM, Ore. - It was a Sunday slugfest at John Lewis Field with the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team and Willamette University combining for 31 hits and 31 runs. At the end of the day, it was the host Bearcats that came away with the victory, downing the Lutes 19-12 in the rubbermatch of the Northwest Conference series.

Willamette (11-4, 7-2 NWC) charged out of the gate scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Lute bats came alive in the top of the second with Ashton Barton blasting a solo home run to left center field followed by two-run home runs by both Rutger Youch and Carson Burke to take a 5-4 lead.

A Braeden Lundberg double in the third scored Aaron Barber to push the Lutes' lead to 6-4. Willamette narrowed the gap to a single run int the bottom of the frame before Andy Schmitz scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to put PLU (7-10, 2-7 NWC) back up two runs.

The Bearcats exploded for six runs in the fourth, building an 11-7 advantage. Lundberg blasted a two-run home run in the fifth before Cole Trotignon went yard in the sixth, whittling the deficit to a single run.

Willamette added two runs in the sixth and a half dozen more in the seventh, staking a 19-10 lead. An RBI double from Barton scored a run before scoring on a Barber single but the Lutes' were unable to generate any more offense as the Bearcats held on for the 19-12 victory.

"We had a rough day from a pitching standpoint," said Head Coach Nolan Soete.

"Willamette did a good job making us pay for our mistakes. We did a good job defensively and our hitters really put together a lot of quality at bats against good arms. Lundberg, Barton, Barber, Youch, and Burke all had a big day at the plate. We need to regroup and get ready for Linfield on Wednesday."

Barber finished three-for-five at the plate. Lundberg had a pair of hits and three RBIs while Ethan Keintz, Barton, and Burke all finished with multiple hits in the contest.

Wyatt Norris was saddled with the decision on the mound, tossing 1 1/3 innings of middle relief. Trevor Mason had two punchouts in 3 1/3 innings of action while Jaden Pieper and Logan Ready kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard over the final 1 2/3 innings.

The Lutes are back on the diamond on Wednesday with a single game against Linfield University before hosting George Fox University in a weekend series beginning on Saturday at PLU Field.