MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – With the Northwest Conference playoff chase tightening up, the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team scored two huge road victories over Linfield University to bolster its playoff chances. PLU squeaked out a 9-8 victory in 11 innings in the opener before cruising to an 11-5 win in the nightcap.
 
"We had big performances on the mound by Cohen and Moreno in Game 1 and Trotignon did a great job in Game 2," said PLU Head Coach Nolan Soete. "We had a lot of quality at-bats today up and down the lineup. Beecham, Trotignon and Barton were locked in today. We showed a lot of character. It would have been really easy to rollover after blowing a five-run lead in the ninth inning of Game 1, but we kept battling and found a way to win. A month ago, most people outside the program probably thought we wouldn't have a chance at getting into the tournament, but our guys kept grinding and going to work and we have given ourselves a shot."
 
With the two victories today, the Lutes have moved to 17-16 overall and 11-10 in the NWC. They currently sit in the fourth and final tournament spot, and are just one game ahead of Whitman College and the University of Puget Sound. The Lutes have been on fire as of late winning nine out of their last 11 league games.
 
Game 1
Leading 8-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth, the Lutes seemed to have things in control, but the Wildcats put up a five spot in their final at-bat to send the game into extra innings. After a scoreless 10^th, Ashton Barton stroked a leadoff double and with two outs, Aaron Barber traded places with him in what turned out to be the game-winning RBI.
 
Chris Moreno (2-2) allowed just a one-out walk in the bottom half of the 11^th to pick up the victory. Moreno got the final out of the ninth inning with the winning run on and retired Linfield in order in the 10^th. In total, he got the final seven outs and allowed just one free pass.
 
PLU seemed to blow open a 2-2 ball game in the seventh, eighth, ninth frames as the offense scored six times. Rochne Beecham had a huge opening game, going 3-for-4 with a walk, four RBI, a double and a three-run home run. Barton also had three hits and scored three times, while Cole Trotignon, the school's all-time home run king, went deep in the third inning. Braeden Lundberg was also on base four times from the leadoff spot with two hits and two walks.
 
Jonathan Cohen didn't earn a decision after a solid start. The junior scattered nine hits across 5 2/3 innings before handing things over to the bullpen.
 
Game 2
PLU left no doubt in the nightcap, scoring five times in the first and four more times in the fourth to build an 11-0 advantage after six innings. Linfield scored once in the seventh and added a grand slam in the seventh, but it wasn't nearly enough. The Lutes had 17 hits in the Game 2 victory, including six for extra bases.
 
Trotignon (2-4) was the star of Game 2. The senior tossed five scoreless innings to earn the victory and helped his own cause with two more home runs and three RBI. Trotignon now has nine homers on the year.
 
Andy Schmitz and Barber also had three hits and three knocked in while Lundberg and Barton both added two more hits in the offensive onslaught.
 
The Lutes will hit the road on Saturday for the final NWC series of the season. PLU will play two with Whitman on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m. with Sunday's regular season finale also beginning at Noon.