Setting the Scene: Its Championship season for men's and women's golf and women's rowing as all three programs head south this weekend to compete against the rest of the Northwest Conference. Softball hosts Pacific in a weekend series while baseball, women's lacrosse and men's and women's track & field all compete on the road.
 
FRIDAY:
SB hosts Pacific (DH) at PLU Field (12 p.m.)
BB at Whitworth (DH) in Spokane, Wash. (12 p.m.)
WLAX at Pacific in Forest Grove, Ore. (6 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
WROW at NWC Championships on Vancouver Lake (9:30 a.m.)
T&F at Lewis & Clark Invitational in Portland, Ore.
SB hosts Pacific (DH) at PLU Field (11 a.m.)
BB at Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. (12 p.m.)
WLAX at George Fox in Newberg, Ore. (1 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
GOLF at NWC Championships in McMinnville, Ore. 
MONDAY:
GOLF at NWC Championships in McMinnville, Ore.
TUESDAY:
BB hosts Saint Martin's at PLU Field (3:30 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY:
SB hosts Linfield (DH) at PLU Field (12 p.m.)

Baseball: The Lutes (12-15, 6-9 NWC) had a sunny weekend at home, securing a three-game sweep of California's Chapman University. The Lutes defeated the Panthers 4-2 last Friday, 5-1 on Saturday, and 12-4 on Sunday, the latter being Head Coach Nolan Soete's 200th victory as the head coach of the program. 
 
Starting pitching was a big ingredient in all three wins, with first-year phenom Alex Lopez tossing eight innings in the series opener while Matthew Sherwood tossed the opening seven innings of game two. Kamryn Swartz closed out both games, notching saves on consecutive days while on Sunday four Lutes combined for 11 strikeouts while offensively Ethan Keintz, Aaron Barber, and Braeden Lundberg all hit home runs. 
 
Women's Golf: The Lutes placed third overall as a team at the South Puget Sound Invitational on Sunday at Tumwater Valley Golf Course. 
 
Emily Alicea and Abby Matelski both notched top five finishes at the event with Alicea placing third overall with a 163 (82-81) while Matelski was one stroke back in fourth (82-82). Alicea's stellar play landed the first-year NWC Golfer of the Week accolades on Monday. 

PLU finished the 36-hole tournament with a 15-stroke lead on rival University of Puget Sound. 
 
Men's Golf: Koen Solis was tabbed NWC Golfer of the Week on Monday, anchoring a Lute squad that finished third overall as a team at the South Puget Sound Invitational the day prior. 

Solis finished third overall as an individual, opening the tournament by shooting a one-under 71 before carding a 75 on Sunday, finishing with a score of 146. 
 
The event was PLU's final tune-up before the 2025 NWC Championships which is the last of the conference's three major tournaments played throughout the year. 
 
Women's Track & Field: PLU had a big day across town, winning six events and the team title at the Puget Sound Invitational.

On the track, Jessalyn Robles won the 800-meters in a personal best time of two minutes, 25.34 seconds and was on the Lutes' winning 4x400-meter relay squad to close the meet.
 
In the field events, Katy Cook won the javelin with a toss of 111 feet, 11 inches, winning the event by 18 feet. Other winners included Ki Neir in the pole vault (10' 7 ½"), Madison Downey in the long jump (16' 7 ¾") and Kyleigh Archer in the triple jump (37' 11 ¼").
 
The Lutes compete this weekend in Portland before returning to Oregon the following weekend for the 2025 NWC Championships.
 
Men's Track & Field: PLU captured four event wins and the team title on Sunday at the crosstown Puget Sound Invitational.

Grady Lemma headlined the day, winning both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. The senior barreled down the track in 15.37 seconds to win the 110 while clocking a 56.23 in the one-lap race.
 
PLU's sprint crew snagged a win in the 4x100-meter relay with Steele Swinton, Kellen Meade, Aiden Yost, and Lebron Smith finishing in 43.29. 
 
Seth Kramer had the Lutes' fourth event win, taking the long jump with a leap of 21' 10 ¼". 
 
Women's Lacrosse: The Lutes (1-10) hung tough against the University of Puget Sound on Friday evening before falling 16-9 before stumbling 19-1 the following day at Lewis & Clark College.

The visiting Loggers scored the opening seven goals on Friday but four straight from the Lutes closed the gap to just three early in the third quarter. Unfortunately, PLU wasn't able to come any closer in a contest that eight different Lutes score goals.
 
Kassie Diller had a great game in goal, making 14 saves on 30 shots. 
 
Softball: Pacific Lutheran (15-11, 5-9 NWC) split the weekend series against Lewis & Clark College before dropping a pair of games on Tuesday in Salem against Willamette University.

The Lutes stormed out of the gates against the Pioneers on Saturday, prevailing 8-1 in the opener, getting a three-run home run from Kimara Blakely while Paige Wilson tossed a gem, allowing just three hits in the complete game win.

PLU wasn't so lucky in game two, taking an early lead but ultimately falling 2-1 to L&C. Lewis & Clark won 4-1 in game three before Myra Grado belted a walkoff single in the bottom of the eighth for a 9-8 extra innings win. Grado was red-hot at the plate in the series finale, finishing three-for-four with four RBIs.

Tuesday's series with Willamette was a tough one, falling 5-0 and 1-0 to the host Bearcats. Willamette tallied three unearned runs and limited PLU to just two hits in the opener. Game two went into extra innings with a single down the line scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth for WU.
 
Women's Rowing: The Lutes return to Vancouver Lake for the second time in three weeks on Saturday, racing at the 2025 NWC Championships.

PLU looks to claim the team title for the first time since 2022. The Lutes head into the regatta as the top ranked team in the Pacific Region according to the regional rankings provided by the NCAA selection committee. That includes PLU's varsity eight ranked second in the region and the second varsity eight ranked as the top 2V in the region. 

Saturday morning the Lutes are back on the water hunting for an NWC title...#GoLutes pic.twitter.com/N0K5ScUPMz

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) April 17, 2025

Academic Attaways: Football had 11 student-athletes named to the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday. PLU accounted for 11 of the NWC's 28 inductees. 

Doing it on the field & in the classroom! ????

Congrats to the 11 @PLUFootball student-athletes inducted into the NFF Hampshire Honor Society#GoLuteshttps://t.co/voOGHJ7iAs

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) April 16, 2025