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Baseball team wins first conference title
May 04, 2007
The PLU baseball team claimed its first ever Northwest Conference baseball championship crown two weekends ago in a three-game sweep of the University of Puget Sound.
The championship includes the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament scheduled for May 16-20 at a site to be determined. It marks the first-ever NCAA tournament appearance for a PLU baseball team.
“It’s great,” said senior centerfielder Ryan Thorne. “It’s not like a weight off our shoulders, it’s more like all the hard work is really paying off.”
The team’s goal at the beginning of the season each of the past three years was to win the title, and it was exciting to finally reach it, Thorne said. The last time the Lutes won the conference title was in 1953, when PLU was called Pacific Lutheran College and part of the Evergreen Conference.
“To finally see that dream come to reality, it’s very rewarding and very humbling for all our guys,” said Geoff Loomis, the program’s coach since 2003.
The Lutes clinched the conference title by winning the first game against UPS by a score of 10-4. After the final out, the players dog-piled on the pitcher’s mound in celebration.
“To be honest with you, it was a big relief,” Loomis said. “It seemed like every game was very meaningful in terms of the league race.”
Winning the first game took the pressure off of the team, but it didn’t take away their hunger to remain undefeated at home, Loomis said. The players were more relaxed in the second game and still beat UPS by a score of 16-2, thus securing their place as the conference’s sole champion. While the score of Sunday’s game was inconsequential, the Lutes swept the series, and won by a score of 9-4 on Sunday.
This year’s baseball team has seen unparalleled success, including the program’s best-ever start at 21 wins and six losses. The Lutes finished the season with an overall record of 32-7 and 20-3 in conference play.
Loomis expects PLU to be the second seed in the regional tournament. The tournament includes six teams from Texas, California, Washington and Oregon. Loomis is optimistic about the team’s chances to advance to the national tournament.
“We’re number one in the nation in team defense,” Loomis explained. “Whenever you can play good defense and pitch well, you’re going to do well.”
Over the last three years, the PLU team defense has been ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
The 2007 senior class is the first class Loomis personally recruited to the PLU program, and that makes this year’s win all the more special, he said. That class includes eight seniors Loomis recruited as freshman, plus two transfers who have since joined the program.
“They were really the foundation,” Loomis said.
Thorne adds that the team’s success was a group effort by the players and the coaches. Team members constantly hold one another accountable, offering constructive criticism and keeping each other mentally focused, he said.
“We always believed in our chance to be conference champions,” Thorne said.
The seniors honored at the final game series included pitchers Joe DiPietro, Jeff Caley and Kael Fisher; catcher Bryce Depew; second baseman Roger Guzman; shortstop Logan Andrews; third baseman Jared Simon; outfielders Ryan Thorne, Justin Whitehall and Tyler Green.
“It’s great,” said senior centerfielder Ryan Thorne. “It’s not like a weight off our shoulders, it’s more like all the hard work is really paying off.”
The team’s goal at the beginning of the season each of the past three years was to win the title, and it was exciting to finally reach it, Thorne said. The last time the Lutes won the conference title was in 1953, when PLU was called Pacific Lutheran College and part of the Evergreen Conference.
“To finally see that dream come to reality, it’s very rewarding and very humbling for all our guys,” said Geoff Loomis, the program’s coach since 2003.
The Lutes clinched the conference title by winning the first game against UPS by a score of 10-4. After the final out, the players dog-piled on the pitcher’s mound in celebration.
“To be honest with you, it was a big relief,” Loomis said. “It seemed like every game was very meaningful in terms of the league race.”
Winning the first game took the pressure off of the team, but it didn’t take away their hunger to remain undefeated at home, Loomis said. The players were more relaxed in the second game and still beat UPS by a score of 16-2, thus securing their place as the conference’s sole champion. While the score of Sunday’s game was inconsequential, the Lutes swept the series, and won by a score of 9-4 on Sunday.
This year’s baseball team has seen unparalleled success, including the program’s best-ever start at 21 wins and six losses. The Lutes finished the season with an overall record of 32-7 and 20-3 in conference play.
Loomis expects PLU to be the second seed in the regional tournament. The tournament includes six teams from Texas, California, Washington and Oregon. Loomis is optimistic about the team’s chances to advance to the national tournament.
“We’re number one in the nation in team defense,” Loomis explained. “Whenever you can play good defense and pitch well, you’re going to do well.”
Over the last three years, the PLU team defense has been ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
The 2007 senior class is the first class Loomis personally recruited to the PLU program, and that makes this year’s win all the more special, he said. That class includes eight seniors Loomis recruited as freshman, plus two transfers who have since joined the program.
“They were really the foundation,” Loomis said.
Thorne adds that the team’s success was a group effort by the players and the coaches. Team members constantly hold one another accountable, offering constructive criticism and keeping each other mentally focused, he said.
“We always believed in our chance to be conference champions,” Thorne said.
The seniors honored at the final game series included pitchers Joe DiPietro, Jeff Caley and Kael Fisher; catcher Bryce Depew; second baseman Roger Guzman; shortstop Logan Andrews; third baseman Jared Simon; outfielders Ryan Thorne, Justin Whitehall and Tyler Green.