TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team (16-21, 8-15 NWC) split the opening two of a four-game series across town against the Puget Sound Loggers (22-14, 14-9 NWC) on Saturday, taking game one 7-1, and falling in game two 5-2.
 
The Lutes bats wasted no time getting on the board in game one, as senior Aaron Barber's on-out sacrifice scored the opening run of the game, putting the Lutes up 1-0 over the cross-town rivals.
 
Freshman Alex Lopez earned the start on the hill for the Lutes, sitting down the first five batters he faced. The Lutes were unable to plate runners in the fourth after loading the bases with no outs, and Lopez's outing was cut short with one-out in the fourth, allowing Kamryn Swartz to come in relief.
 
PLU made up for the third inning in the fourth, as Carson Burke's triple scored Jaden Pieper. Barber then singled to right, bringing home Burke, giving the Lutes a 3-0 lead. Swartz escaped a jam in the home sixth, as he allowed just one run after putting the first two batters of the inning on base.
 
Four singles in the top of the eighth doubled the Lutes run total for the game. As Ethan Keintz, Asa Reese, Brayden Adcox, and Pieper's hits towed the line, putting the Lutes up 6-1 with the Loggers down to their final six outs.
 
Reese added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, ripping a solo shot to right-center field, making it 7-1 Lutes. Swartz navigated two hits over the final two innings, but slammed the door on Puget Sound, giving the Lutes a 7-1 win to open the rivalry series.
 
The Lutes 15 hits were led by Reese who had a 4-5 game at the dish, driving in one. While Barber's two runs batted in led the team in the game, pairing with his 2-4 performance at the plate. Five different Lutes had multi-hit games to begin the series against the Loggers. Swartz impressive 5.2-innings on the mound earned him the win, moving to 3-2 on the season. He allowed just one run on four hits, and striking out a pair.
 
Both teams opened game two with cold bats, as the first hit of the game came against Lutes starter Matthew Sherwood. Sherwood escaped the second inning, stranding runners with the bases loaded.
 
Reese found the outfield grass in the top of the fourth with two-outs, ripping a double to right field. But it was the Loggers who scored first in the bottom half after a Lutes fielding error put Puget Sound up 1-0. UPS added another with a ground-out in the home fifth, taking a 2-0 lead.
 
Sherwood's outing came to an end after five-innings of work, as Jon Crawley came in relief of the Lutes starter to open the sixth. After Puget Sound extended their lead to 3-0 in the home seventh, The Lutes got on the board, thanks to a single from Keintz, scoring Pieper on PLU's second hit of the game. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Burke inched the Lutes closer, making it a 3-2 ball game after the top half of the eighth. But UPS answered with a double, followed by a two-run home run, giving them a 5-2 cushion.
 
The Loggers held off the Lutes late push, coming away with a 5-2 win to split Saturday's double header. Keintz plated the Lutes only runner, as he was one of five Lutes to record a hit in the game, while six runners were stranded. Sherwood was given the loss, moving his record to 2-6 on the season, after he allowed just one earned in five-innings of work, striking out five as well.
 
"We were swinging it well in game one today. I thought Swartz and Lopez did a great job on the bump, and we had timely hitting throughout the game." Said Head Coach Nolan Soete.
 
"We struggled offensively in game two, as UPS did a good job on the mound, while we didn't help ourselves with sloppy defense. We look forward to the opportunity to play for a series win tomorrow."
 
Baseball closes out the 2025 season tomorrow afternoon on the Puget Sound campus, as the double header is set to begin at 12 p.m. The Lutes final pair of games comes with a chance to take the four-game series against the Loggers, needing to win both on Sunday to do so.
 
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