Nolan Soete took over the reigns of the PLU baseball program prior to the 2016 campaign after serving on staff in various capacities since the 2007 season. Soete previously served as an outfield instructor, infield instructor, catcher instructor, recruiting coordinator, and hitting instructor while serving as the assistant head coach from 2011 to 2015. Soete's time with the Lutes has seen the program capture four Northwest Conference Championships and three NCAA regional berths, including a run to the 2016 West Region finals in his first season as head coach.
In 10 seasons as head coach, Soete has won 205 career games, made six trips to the NWC Tournament, won the NWC Tournament title in 2016 and the NWC regular season title in 2018 while 63 Lutes have earned All-Conference honors. That includes players having won NWC Player of the Year, NWC Pitcher of the Year, and NWC Freshman of the Year Awards while Soete was the NWC Coach of the Year in 2018.
Soete won his 200th career game during the 2025 season, becoming just the third coach in program history to do so in a 12-4 victory over Chapman Universiyt on April 13 to sweep the three-game series. The 2025 campaign saw six Lutes earn All-NWC honors including pitcher Alex Lopez collecting NWC Rookie of the Year honors. Soete's 2025 squad earned victories against teams from all three NCAA divisions, posting a 3-1 upset of the Big Ten Conference's Washington Huskies on March 18.
The 2022 Lutes under Soete finished the season with a 22-18 record while punching a ticket to the NWC Tournament for a record seventh straight season. The season concluded with 10 players earned All-Conference honors with Connor Lemma earning Academic All-District honors and Spencer Howell landing All-Region honors.Â
Soete's 2021 squad posted a record of 26-17, including 21-10 in NWC play, punching a bid to the program's sixth consecutive NWC Tournament. The Lutes closed the season finishing one win shy of the NWC Tournament title game. Nine Lutes earned All-NWC honors while Jordan Haworth and Cole Trotignon earned All-Region and All-American honors.
Under Soete's direction, the Lutes qualified for the NWC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season in 2019, becoming the only program in the conference to make the postseason every year of the tournament's existence. Soete won his 100th career game during the season as the Lutes finished with a 22-16 overall record and a 14-10 record in NWC action. Soete's squad had four All-League selections, two All-Region honorees while Justin Armbruester was the NWC Pitcher of the Year and Andy Schmitz was NWC Freshman of the Year.Â
Soete was named the NWC Coach of the Year in 2018 after guiding the Lutes to their second NWC regular season title in four years. PLU finished the season with a 25-17 overall record and an 18-6 mark in league play, highlighted by a program-record 12 game winning streak during the month of March. Soete's squad boasted nine All-Conference honorees, including three landing ABCAÂ All-Region accolades while Jacob Bockelie was tabbed the NWC Player of the Year.Â
Soete's 2017 squad led the nation in fielding percentage (.985) and ranked fourth nationally in double plays per game, finishing the season with a 25-14 record. The 2017 Lutes owned a 17-7 record in NWC play while earning a three-game sweep of non-conference foe and eventual national champion California Lutheran University. Two Lutes earned All-Region honors by both the ABCA and D3baseball.com with Landon Packard securing the ABCA's prestigious Gold Glove Award.
Soete led the Lutes to a NWC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division III West Region Finals in his first season as head coach in 2016, bowing out to eventual national champion Trinity University and finishing the season with a 29-19 overall record. Additionally, pitcher Garrett Brown finished the season as an ABCA Second Team All-American.
A four-year letter winner while playing baseball at Pacific Lutheran, Soete earned 2005 second team All-Northwest Conference honors as a senior first baseman after hitting .317 with four home runs.
Soete spent six years as a physical education teacher at Lakes High School after graduating from Pacific Lutheran University in 2006 and earned his MAT from Grand Canyon University. He and his wife, Jessica, have two daughters, Harper and Piper, and live in Lakewood.
