Setting the Scene: The Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department has four sports competing at home this weekend. Track & field hosts its third and final meet of the season, holding the PLU Spring Invitational on Friday with the throwing events being contested on Saturday. Baseball welcomes Linfield University to PLU Field for a weekend series while women's lacrosse begins Northwest Conference play by hosting Willamette University and Linfield. Meanwhile softball returns to Oregon to play Willamette while golf competes at the NWC Spring Classic in Walla Walla, Washington. 

FRIDAY:
T&F hosts PLU Spring Invitational (9:30 a.m.)
BB hosts Linfield at PLU Field (4 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
T&F hosts PLU Spring Invitational (11 a.m.)
WROW at Pio-Pilot Invitational in Vancouver, Wash.
BB hosts Linfield (DH) at PLU Field (12 p.m.)
SB at Willamette (DH) in Salem, Ore. (12 p.m.)
WLAX hosts Willamette at East Field (1 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
GOLF at NWC Spring Classic in Walla Walla, Wash. 
SB at Willamette (DH) in Salem, Ore. (11 a.m.)
WLAX hosts Linfield at East Field (1 p.m.)
MONDAY:
GOLF at NWC Spring Classic in Walla Walla, Wash.
TUESDAY:
BB at Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. (3 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY:
WLAX hosts Puget Sound at East Field (6 p.m.)

Hall of Fame: The 34th annual PLU Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony is just a few weeks away. Make sure to book a ticket to the Saturday, April 12 event before it's too late. Tickets: LINK
 
Learn more about the six inductees: LINK

Baseball: Alex Lopez pitched a gem in the series opener on Saturday against Willamette but the Bearcats got the best of the Lutes (7-13, 4-8 NWC) the rest of the weekend, taking the final two games to win the series.

Lopez allowed just four hits and two walks, tossing a complete game shutout in an 11-0 victory in game one. The Gresham, Oregon native became the first freshman to net a complete game shutout since teammate Jonathan Cohen did it in a seven-inning game in 2021 and was the first Lute freshman to throw a nine-inning complete game shutout since Justin Armbruester in 2018. 

Brody Phinney did some damage at the plate, going three-for-five with two RBIs and three runs scored. 
 
The Lute offense was silent the rest of the weekend with the Bearcats taking game two 3-1 and the series finale 11-0. 

Women's Rowing: Pacific Lutheran's varsity eight boat was named the NWC Crew of the Week for the second time this season on Monday after putting up a big showing on the East Coast over the weekend.
 
PLU's varsity eight boat of Riah Heil, Kennadi Jones, Kat Judd, Maddie Anderson, Carleigh Templin, Ashley Teague, Adia Carei, Makayla Hall, and coxswain Louisa Compton clocked its fastest time if the season on Friday, cruising down the 2,000-meter course in six minutes, 15.85 seconds to place third overall.
 
The following day, the Lutes won the petite final at the Battle of Brigantine, enjoying a 28-second gap on Franklin & Marshall College. 
 
Women's Track & Field: The Lutes closed out spring break with a second place finish on Saturday at the University of Puget Sound's Peyton Shotwell Invitational. 

Addisen Hering won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.33 with Lilly Achterling third overall. Hering also placed third in the 100-meter hurdles while the PLU 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays both logged runner-up finishes.
 
In the field, PLU had runner-up finishes from Abi Caprye (high jump), Ki Neir (pole vault), Madison Downey (long jump), and Kyleigh Archer (triple jump) while Katy Cook was third in the javelin.  
 
Pacific Lutheran tallied 124 points in the team standings, owning a 54-point gap on NWC rival Whitworth University and finishing just 18 points shy of the host Loggers. 
 
Men's Track & Field: PLU won two events on Saturday at the Peyton Shotwell Invitational, finishing third overall in the team standings.
 
Grady Lemma topped the field in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 56.98 and securing NWC Track Athlete of the Week accolades on Monday. The Lutes also snagged a win in the 4x100-meter relay with Kaimana Satterfield, Davyn Waters, Steele Swinton, and Kellen Meade finishing in 44.07.

In the throws, George Sonko was runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 44' 2" while logging a third place finish in the discus while Connor Meade was second in the javelin.
 
Men's Golf: The Lutes were back in action over the weekend, competing head-to-head against a pair of in-state rivals. PLU fell short 304-299 against Division II Saint Martin's University on Saturday in Olympia at Indian Summer Golf & Country Club before collecting a 5-2 dual victory over University of Puget Sound on Sunday at Tacoma's Oakbrook Golf Club.

Saturday saw Marcus Otto shoot an even par 72 to tie for first place while Tanner Frinell was one stroke back with a 73 to finish third overall. 
 
The following day saw Geo Pirrie, Blake Bostrom, Koen Solis, and Marcus Otto all win their matches in the 5-2 dual win over the crosstown Loggers.
 
The Lutes are back in action this weekend, competing at the NWC Spring Classic which is the second of the three major tournaments that count towards the final conference standings. 

Women's Golf: The Lutes were back in action after a 19-day hiatus, falling 353-317 in a dual with Division II Saint Martin's before tying Puget Sound 2-2 the following day.

Abby Matelski led the charge on Saturday against the Saints, shooting a 77 at Canterwood Golf and Country Club to secure a runner-up finish. Emily Alicea shot an 85 to place seventh with Ashley Nguyen eighth overall with an 88.
 
Sunday saw Alicea and Nguyen each win their matches on Sunday against the Loggers.
 
Softball: Pacific Lutheran (12-6, 2-4 NWC) had the weekend off. The Lutes were last on the diamond on March 23, finishing off a conference series against George Fox University in which the two teams split the four-game set.

The Lutes rank fifth in all of NCAA Division III (396 teams) in home runs per game (1.22) and is 11th in the nation in slugging percentage (0.559) and 12th in RBIs per game (7.78). 
 
Anchoring that high octane offense is Zoe Smithson who ranks fourth nationally in RBIs per game, ninth in RBIs, and 11th in runs per game while Kalamani Doctor is eighth nationally in home runs per game.
 
Women's Lacrosse: The Lutes (1-6) had the weekend off as they gear up to open NWC play and the second half of the season.
 
Last time out was last Wednesday, a game the Lutes played level with visiting Pacific University through the opening two quarters. The Boxers pulled away in the second half to secure a 13-7 victory.
 
Kassie Diller had a huge game in net, making a season-high 19 saves and on Monday was tabbed the NWC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Diller leads the NWC and ranks ninth nationally in saves per game (12.71) while Tayllee Alldredge is 29th in the nation and the conference leader in ground balls per game (4.14). 
 
Alldredge is PLU's leading scorer and has found the back of the net in all seven games this spring. Through seven games, the first-year has 18 goals and two assists while Annie Latimer has a team-best six assists.
 
Academic Attaways: College Sports Communicators (CSC) released its Academic All-District selections on Tuesday with six Lute swimmers earning recognition. That includes Emma Gassman and Anna Haneda from the women's squad and Luke Farag, Na'inoa Loo, Tyler Tanaka, and Ben Thompson from the men's team.

Learn more: LINK