Connor Soudani
Sports Editor
The baseball team took home one win in the three-game series with Pacific Lutheran last weekend.
A strong PLU pitching game turned out to be the determining factor in the first matchup, as junior Trevor Lubking pitched a complete game to hold Whitworth to one run in a 3-1 loss.
The second game of the doubleheader on Saturday was a different story as junior pitcher Cory Mack threw his best game of the season thus far, allowing only one hit and striking out six batters en route to a 4-0 shutout.
Head coach Dan Ramsay attributed the turnaround to Mack’s effort on the mound.
“He was better than them today,” Ramsay said. “He attacked hitters, did a good job of executing pitches, trusted his defense, I mean really all-around he just threw a great game.”
Mack’s pitching approach was no different than that of his usual approach, but this time around, things went really well, Mack said.
“I was pitching at contact, which means you just try and throw a strike and don’t try and do too much with what you do and just the team kind of get themselves out and that’s kind of how it went today and it was awesome,” Mack said.
The final game of the series ended with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss for the Pirates, as PLU scored on a Whitworth error in the top of the ninth for the only run of the game. Junior pitcher Spencer Ansett finished the game with three strikeouts and a walk, but left the game with a no-decision.
“We ran into a really good arm and pitching gave us a chance to win and we really just didn’t take advantage of opportunities,” Ansett said. “The biggest thing for us right now is that we need to just figure out how to put things together offensively and make in-game adjustments. Our guys know that and we’re excited to improve on it this week in practice.”
The Bucs will take on the NCAA Division III defending national champions in Linfield for another three-game series in McMinnville, Ore., March 22-23.
“They’re going to be another team that throws quality arms pretty much every game. We need to be ready for that. They’re going to be able to put runs up a bit better so it should be a tough series for sure and we’re looking forward to having another really competitive weekend,” Ansett said.
Contact Connor Soudani at csoudani16@my.whitworth.edu