TACOMA, Wash. — A rocky fifth inning derailed the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team on Sunday afternoon, falling 9-1 to Division II Saint Martin's University to wrap up the opening weekend of the 2024 season. 
 
The host Lutes (1-2) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Peter King drew a walk to lead off the inning, advancing to second on a Rutger Youch sacrifice bunt, and later scoring on a RBI single from Rochne Beecham.
 
The Saints (3-9) responded with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, before piling on seven the following frame to cruise to the win.

"Pitching is such an important part of the game and we simply haven't been competitive enough from a pitching standpoint. We are giving up too many free passes and we are constantly getting ourselves into hitter leverage counts and our opponents have made us pay," said Head Coach Nolan Soete.

"We under achieved offensively today as well. On a positive note, we played good defense for most of the weekend. We need to get better in all 3 phases. Our youth showed this weekend and I think a lot of us learned that we need to grow up quickly."
 
PLU finished the game with five hits from five different players. King finished with a hit, a walk, and a run scored while Beecham had a hit, a walk, and an RBI. 
 
Chris Moreno tossed the opening four innings and struck out three while allowing three earned runs. Jake Prewett tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with two punchouts while Anthony Adams logged a strikeout in the lone batter he faced. Stevan Rodriquez finished off the game with two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit and striking out one.  
 
The Lutes are back on the diamond on Friday, trekking to California for the first of three games against University of La Verne. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.