McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Seniors Luke Piazza and Preston Lau both collected three hits, as Willamette University's baseball team picked up a series-ending, run-rule victory over the visiting Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University, 11-0, Sunday afternoon at Roy Helser Field on the campus of Linfield University.
Lau, fellow senior Drew Baskin, and junior Nate Hamburger each hit two-run home runs for the Bearcats. Meanwhile, graduate student Jackson Garrett pitched 6.2 innings allowing five hits en route to picking up the shutout victory, which is his second win of the season.
With today's victory, Willamette improves to 8-11 overall and 6-3 in Northwest Conference play. Meanwhile, Pacific Lutheran falls to 7-13 overall and 4-8 in NWC contests.
Along with Piazza and Lau, Baskin, Hamburger, and sophomore Carter Stoltz also collected two hits apiece. Baskin drove in a team-high three runs, while Lau, Piazza, and Hamburger all collected two RBIs on the afternoon.
Willamette got on the scoreboard early in the bottom of the first inning when senior Tassos Foster reached on a hit by pitch before advancing to third on a single by Piazza through the right side. Following an advance to second base by Piazza on a wild pitch, Baskin registered his first RBI of the game on a groundout that scored Foster for the early 1-0 Bearcat lead. The very next batter – Lau – continued his hot weekend connecting on his second home run of the season over the center field fence that also brought home Piazza for a 3-0 Willamette lead. One batter later, Stoltz roped a double to center field that scored first-year player Trevor Sostman giving the host Bearcats an early 4-0 advantage after one inning of play.
In the top of the second inning, Pacific Lutheran began its at-bat with a single through the right side by Brody Phinney before Rochne Beecham was hit by a pitch putting runners on first and second with no outs. The very next batter – Carson Burke – ripped a low liner that ended up in the glove of Willamette's sophomore shortstop Liam O'Connor, who flipped the ball to Baskin at second before firing it to Piazza at first for an unprecedented triple play to end the visiting Lutes' threat.
Baskin would push Willamette's lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the third inning when he connected on his fourth home run of the season, as he sent the ball over the left field fence to also score Piazza following his leadoff single.
One inning later, the host Bearcats continued to increase their lead starting with Hamburger advancing to third on a failed pick off by PLU's pitcher before coming home on a miscue by the Lutes' centerfielder. One batter later, Piazza ripped a two-run single into right center scoring both graduate student Rocco Granucci and Foster to push Willamette's lead to 9-0 after four innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Stoltz began with a one-out single before being lifted for senior pinch-runner Wyatt Thames. Following a fielder's choice that got Thames out at second base, Hamburger stepped to the plate and ended the game on one swing sending the ball over the left field fence for his third home run of the season capping the run-rule victory for Willamette to close out the weekend series with PLU.
Phinney led Pacific Lutheran's offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, while three other Lutes – Rutger Youch, Aaron Barber, and Braeden Lundberg – each recorded a hit in the loss. PLU starter Jon Crawley lasted a mere 0.2 innings allowing four earned runs on three hits and was tagged with his second loss of the season. A trio of Lute pitchers – Chris Moreno, Kamryn Swartz, and Jonathan Cohen – combined to pitch the final 6.0 innings allowing a combined seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits.
As mentioned previously, Willamette's starter, Garrett, pitched the first 6.2 innings allowing a mere five PLU hits to go along with a game-high three strikeouts. Junior Dylan Turner got the final out in relief, as the third-year Bearcat made his second appearance of the weekend needing just three pitches to get the 21st out of the afternoon for Willamette.
The Bearcats now flip the calendar to April and hit the road next weekend for a three-game series against Whitworth University starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 5, in Spokane, Washington. The opening pitch of Game One is scheduled for 12:00 PM at Paul Merkel Field.
