Setting the Scene: It's the calm before the storm in Luteville. The Pacific Lutheran University men's and women's track & field teams head to Eugene, Oregon for the Oregon Twilight, the penultimate last chance meet for the Lutes before the NCAA Division III Championships while the NWC Champion PLU softball squad learns its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday morning. PLU closes out Monday with the annual Luteys Awards Show that will be streaming for free on YouTube.
FRIDAY:
T&F at Oregon Twilight Meet in Eugene, Ore. (1 p.m.)
MONDAY:
NCAA Softball Selection Show on NCAA.com (8 a.m.)
Luteys Award Show (7 p.m.)
Softball: The 22nd-ranked and NWC Champion Lutes (34-10, 24-4 NWC) hosted the Northwest Conference Tournament for the first time in school history over the weekend, advancing to the title game.
Paige Wilson struck out 13 in a 7-0 thrashing of George Fox University to open the tournament on Friday before coming up short 4-2 to seventh-ranked Linfield University to close the day. A
Zoe Smithson two-run home run in the fifth inning lifted PLU to a 3-2 victory over Lewis & Clark College on Saturday before succumbing 6-1 to Linfield in Sunday's title game.
Multiple milestones were reached over the weekend with Wilson becoming just the eighth Lute to crack 300 career strikeouts while
Paola Garcia set the school record for single season hits. The duo earned some major hardware on Tuesday with Wilson earning NWC Pitcher of the Year while Garcia was the NWC Player of the Year. Head Coach
Traci Barrett was tabbed NWC Coach of the Year. All told, eight Lutes earned All-Conference accolades with Wilson, Garcia, and
Kaya Collado all securing First Team accolades.
Rowing: Pacific Lutheran closed out the 2026 season on a high note on Saturday with the varsity eight boat finishing third at the Windermere Cup/Opening Day Regatta in Seattle.
The Lutes' varsity eight flew through the 2,000-meter course through the Montlake Cut connecting the Puget Sound to Lake Washington in seven minutes, 10.975 seconds, finishing ahead of the 1V8+ boat from Division II Seattle Pacific University.
Track & Field: Resting up from the NWC Championships, PLU sent just three student-athletes to the Linfield Open on Saturday.
The small squad didn't disappoint, with
Seth Kramer winning the long jump and
George Sonko finishing fourth in the shot put. Kramer won the long jump with a winning leap of 22 feet, six and one quarter inches while Sonko registered his fourth place showing with a heave of 43' 3".
PLU has just two more opportunities to improve marks prior to the NCAA Championships with Friday's Oregon Twilight and next Thursday's George Fox Last Chance Meet.
Baseball: The Lutes (14-24, 10-14 NWC) split a four-game series against crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound to close out the 2026 season.
PLU topped the Loggers 10-5 in the opener, a game that saw
Carson Burke go three-for-five with two RBIs and two runs scored. Puget Sound took game two on Saturday 2-0, eliminating the Lutes from NWC Tournament contention.
On Sunday, Puget Sound took the NWC series with a 9-7 win before the Lutes closed the year on a high note, taking down the Loggers 8-5 in a seven-inning non-conference game.
Ethan Keintz finished the season as the Lutes' leading hitter with a .352 batting average while Burke provided the power, leading the squad in doubles (12), home runs (nine), extra base hits (22), and RBIs (36).
Matthew Sherwood was the leader on the mound with 69 strikeouts across 65 1/3 innings with a 4-3 record.
Football: Head Coach Brant Adams and the Lutes announced their 2026 schedule, a slate that features 10 regular season games, including five at home. The Lutes will play a pair of Texas powerhouses and across the 10-game season will face teams from four different states. Full Story:
LINK
Facility Foltz: Associate Athletic Director
Andy Foltz was recognized nationally for his efforts on Tuesday, earning Collegiate Event and Facilities Management Association's High Impact Award. Foltz will be presented the award in person in Las Vegas during the CEFMA convention in early June. A member of the Lute staff since 2014, Foltz helped oversee $1.5 million in capital improvement projects over the last year.
