TACOMA, Wash. — Matthew Sherwood commanded the bump while Rochne Beecham and Carson Burke both went yard as the Pacific Lutheran University baseball team defeated Chapman University 5-1 to secure the series win on Saturday at PLU Field.

"It was another great start by Sherwood and Swartz did an excellent job on the back end to get the save," said Head Coach Nolan Soete who with the victory sits just one shy of 200 for his career.

"We did a better job of limiting our strikeouts today and had a few big hits. It was good to see Beecham and Burke go yard. Overall, it was a good team win."

The host Lutes (11-15) pounced in the bottom of the second inning, plating a trio of runs. A leadoff walk from Brody Phinney followed by singles from Rutger Youch and Carson Burke loaded the bases for Rochne Beecham. 

Beecham was patient at the plate, milking an RBI walk to score Phinney while Lukas Delisle and Braeden Lundberg both absorbed pitches to their body, driving in Youch and Burke to give PLU the early 3-0 advantage. 

The Panthers (7-22) got on the board in the fifth inning, manufacturing a run on a sacrifice bunt to narrow the gap to just two runs. 

Beecham belted a solo home run in the sixth, his third round tripper of the 2025 season, making it 4-1 in favor of the Lutes before Burke launched his fifth home run of the year two innings later to conclude the scoring.

Sherwood allowed just one run and one walk while striking out five in seven innings of action to secure the win. Kamryn Swartz didn't allow a hit or a walk over the final two innings, registering his second save in as many days.

PLU had just five hits on the day with Burke and Beecham both finishing with a pair of base knocks. Beecham was two-for-two with two RBIs while also drawing two walks while Burke had an RBI and scored two runs. 

The Lutes are looking to sweep the series against Chapman tomorrow. First pitch at PLU Field is set for 12 p.m.