TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team (17-22, 9-15 NWC) split the weekend series against the Puget Sound Loggers (23-15, 14-10 NWC), but took the three-game series of Northwest Conference games. The Lutes dominated in game one, winning 17-7. But game two was all Loggers, as the Lutes fell 3-1.
 
Logan Egge earned the start for the Lutes in game three of the series on Sunday afternoon, retiring the first three Loggers in order. Meanwhile, Asa Reese and Aaron Barber opened the game with a pair of singles but were unable to come around to score. But an inning later, Rochne Beecham led off with a solo shot down the rightfield line, giving the Lutes an early 1-0 lead.
 
Puget Sound responded with a single in the second, scoring the leadoff runner who reached on an error in the outfield. After Carson Burke walked and stole second, Beecham singled to right, giving the Lutes another lead at 2-1. But the lead was short lived once again, as a pair of singles from the Loggers in the home half of the inning knotted the game back up 2-2. UPS added three more singles off of Egge, scoring two runs and ending Egge's outing on the mound. Chris Moreno came in relief, ending the Loggers momentum with a strikeout to end the inning as well.
 
The Loggers hit a two-out double, which led to an RBI-single, giving them a 5-2 lead through four innings. Beecham record hit third RBI with the Lutes third run of the game, as he lined out to right field, scoring Ethan Keintz with the sacrifice fly.
 
In the top of the sixth, Lukas Delisle led off with a single, followed by a Brayden Adcox walk, ending the Loggers starting pitcher's outing. Keintz drove in the two with a two-RBI single to left, tying the game up at 5-5. Barber crushed a home run in the very next at-bat, scoring three, and now taking an 8-5 lead in a matter of two batters. Burke was hit by a pitch and stole second, resulting in another pitching change by the Loggers. Jayden Pieper's single to center scored Burke, extending the Lutes lead to 9-5 thanks to the six-run sixth inning.
 
Puget Sound got one back in the next half-inning, as a one-out solo home run cut into the Lutes lead, 9-6. As Cole Fenton led off the seventh with a walk, Keintz doubled to deep center field, scoring Fenton, and taking back a four-run lead. The Lutes added another for a fourth-straight inning in the top of the eighth, as Beecham led off with a double to left-centerfield, followed by a double down the line by Braeden Lundberg to go up 11-6.
 
Moreno remained in the game for the Lutes into the eighth, minimizing the damage, as just one scored in the eighth, making it 11-7 Lutes with one inning to play. Keintz and Barber began the final inning with a pair of singles to the outfield grass, allowing Burke to single to left and bring home Keintz, 12-7 Lutes. Beecham singled to score Kyler Gerber, the pinch-runner, while Pieper hit a sacrifice fly to make it 14-7 Lutes. Later with two outs, Deslisle singled, scoring Lundberg, and Adcox capped off the inning with a home run to right field, making it 17-7 Lutes.
 
Cade Hamel came in to close the door in the ninth on the mound, striking out two, giving the Lutes a dominant 17-7 victory in Sunday's opener.
 
The Lutes 17-runs and 20-hits is the most they have had in each category this season, as nine-different Lutes had hits in the game. Led by Beecham who went 4-5 with four runs batted in, while Keintz was close behind, going 4-6 with three runs batted in. Barber also had a great showing, as his 3-6 day with three runs batted in was highlighted by his home run early in the game. Moreno earned the win after going 5.1-innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, and striking out six.
 
In the shortened seven-inning, game two, Jonathan Cohen made his final start of his PLU career, as the senior erased a lead-off walk to the first batter he faced. The Lutes first hit of the game came in the top of the third, as Cole Hamel led off with a double down the rightfield line, and Weston Cruz drove him in with a double to left; putting the Lutes up 1-0.
 
The Lutes lead was short-lived though, as the Loggers pair of singles scored the first two baserunners, putting UPS ahead, 2-1. Cohen's outing was cut short after the third inning, as senior Anthony Adams came in relief. Adams struck out the side in his first inning of work.
 
Steven Rodriguez was the next Lute out of the 'pen in the fifth, as his first inning earned three-straight fly outs. Rodriguez earned one more out in the sixth, where he was relieved by Andrew Hickman on the mound. Hickman let up one hit, but it drove in a prior walk, extending the Loggers lead to 3-1.
 
Puget Sound would maintain their lead over the final inning, taking the non-conference seven-inning matchup, 3-1.
 
PLU totaled four hits, with one each from Barber, Peter King, Hamel, and Cruz; as Cruz drove in the only run for the Lutes.
 
"It was good to get that series win and send the senior class off on a high note. I thought Egge battled and Moreno threw well. We really put together a lot of quality at-bats today." Said Head Coach Nolan Soete.
 
"It was nice to see the offense put up 20 hits. Barber and Beecham set the tone at the plate. Overall, it was a good team effort."
 
Baseball's 2025 campaign comes to a close, as they end the season with a 17-22 overall record, and a 9-15 record in Northwest Conference play.
 
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