Baseball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC BASEBALL
LINFIELD AT PACIFIC
Games No. 11 & 12/Home Games No. 1 & 2
Sat., Mar. 3, 11 a.m., Chuck Bafaro Stadium, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
goboxers.com/livestats
LINFIELD AT PACIFIC
Game No. 13/Home Game No. 3
Sun., Mar. 4, Noon, Chuck Bafaro Stadium, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
goboxers.com/livestats
BOXERS COME HOME FOR NORTHWEST CONFERENCE OPENER
Pacific baseball's season-beginning 10-game road trip comes to an end this week as the Boxers open Northwest Conference play this weekend at Chuck Bafaro Stadium. The league openers will not be easy, though, as defending NWC champion and No. 4 ranked Linfield comes to town for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific converted a 10th inning error by Oregon Tech as
Grant Gabriel singled and pinch-runner
Therone Bridges scored with one out as the Boxers beat the Hustlin' Owls 2-1.
• On Saturday, the Boxers needed just 12 hits to hand Puget Sound a 17-3 rout in Pacific's second game of the Northwest-Cascade Challenge.
Greg Tellez went 3 for 3 and
Conor Clark contributed a pinch-hit three-run triple in the sixth. The Boxers were helped by 16 walks issued by the Loggers and five hit batters.
• Pacific gave up a close contest to Concordia (Ore.) on Sunday as the Cavaliers loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and allowed the winning run home on an error for a 5-4 victory.
Nick Tasaka and
Jared Van Hoon each went 2 for 5 to lead the Boxers.
•
Greg Tellez led Pacific at the plate over the weekend, hitting .571 in two games, going 4 for 7 with three runs batted in and two runs.
Jared Van Hoon went 4 for 10 in three games with a triple, three RBI and three runs scored.
• Ace
Rob Dittrick earned his first win of the season, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with two walks and a strikeout in the Boxers' 17-3 rout of Puget Sound. The outing lowered Dittrick's earned run average to 4.85 in three starts.
•
Chad Fahey put together another quality outing while going without a decision in the 2-1 extra-innings win over Oregon Tech. Fahey allowed one run on five hits with talk walks and a strikeout in eight innings of work. Fahey lowered his ERA to 3.78 and currentlly leadsthe Boxers with 16.2 innings pitched.
•
Kevin Schwartz continues to lead Pacific at the plate, hitting .378 in 10 games with 14 hits, 7 RBI and five runs scored. Schwartz and
Jared Van Hoon are the only two Pacific players to have started all 10 games of the season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
LINFIELD
The Wildcats enter the week with a 6-1 record and are first in the NWC at 3-0. Linfield entered the season No. 4 in the D3Baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top-25 Preseason Poll. Linfield opened the NWC season with a three-game sweep of Lewis & Clark in McMinnville. The Wildcats cruised in Saturday's twinbill, winning the opener 14-5 and the nightcap 7-1. Linfield pulled away in the opener with a five-run seventh inning and scored in every inning except the third. Tim Wilson went 2 for 3 with two runs, two RBI and a double to lead the Wildcats. Zach Boskovich and
Kyle Chamberlain also had two hits and two RBI. In the nightcap, the Wildcats broke the game open with a four-run eighth inning, which was helped by a Pioneers' error. Boskovich went 2 for 3 with two RBI to lead the Wildcats. Sunday's single game played out close with the Pioneers tying the contest 6-6 in the ninth inning. Jake Wylie scored the winning run when he reached on a walk and scored when Michael Hopp hit into a fielder's choice followed by a Pioneers' throwing error. Kramer Lindell led Linfield by going 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI. Boskovich leads Linfield at the plate with a .435 average with 10 hits, 11 runs, four doubles, three home runs and eight RBI. Zach Brandon leads the starting pitching staff with a 2-0 record and 2.70 earned run average, allowing three runs and 11 hits in 10 innings. As a team, Linfield owns a .300 batting average, second in the NWC, and a league-leading 3.05 earned run average. Former major leaguer Scott Brosius, the most valuable player of the 1998 World Series, is in his fifth year as Linfield head coach.
AGAINST BRADLEY: Linfield leads 36-8
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 11-4 in McMinnville, Ore., on Mar. 6, 2011
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
TELLEZ LIKE IT IS: After seeing just spot time in his junior season with the Boxers,
Greg Tellez (Sr., White Salmon, Wash.) will keep seeing more time in the Pacific lineup thanks to his production at the plate. Tellez went 4 for 7 in two games at the Northwest-Cascade Challenge, scoring two runs and three RBI. Against Puget Sound on Saturday, Tellez went 3 for 3 with three RBI and a run, which included two-run single down the left field line that punctuated the Boxers' five-run first inning. Tellez added a 1 for 4 performance with a run scored in Sunday's loss to Concordia (Ore.). Tellez enters the week with a .345 batting average, fourth best among Pacific players who have appeared in five games or more, with three runs and five RBI. He has played in nine of Pacific's 10 games and has started eight games, seven of those as the desginated hitter.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: Jared Van Hoon (Sr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) put together his best hitting weekend of the young season at the Northwest-Cascade Challenge, finishing with a .400 average in the three games. Van Hoon went 4 for 10 with three runs, a triple and three RBI. He went 2 for 4 against Oregon Tech on Friday. He closed the weekend by going 2 for 5 with a run and a RBI on his triple to left center field to tie the game against Concordia (Ore.). Van Hoon is one of two Pacific players who has started all 10 games, making six starts at third base and four at shortstop.
AT LONG LAST...WIN NO. 1: It took three starts to make it happen, but Pacific ace
Rob Dittrick (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii) finally got his first win of the season. Dittrick had an easy time with Puget Sound on Saturday, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts in five innings to earn the win in the 17-3 rout of Puget Sound. Despite going three outings to get that first win, Dittrick is still showing the skills that should make him a dominant hurler for the Boxers in 2012. In his three outings, Dittrick owns a 4.85 earned run average, having allowed seven earned runs on 15 hits with three walks and nine strikeouts in 13 innings. Dittrick took a loss against Hawaii Pacific on Feb. 19, allowing seven runs, five earned, on eight hits in five innings. In his first start against Hawaii Hilo on Feb. 15, Dittrick allowed one run on three hits in three innings as he was limited in action by a pitch count. The 2011 NWC Pitcher of the Year, Dittrick finished his sophomore campaign with an 8-3 record and a 2.26 earned run average.
ANOTHER SOLID OUTING: Chad Fahey (Sr., Keizer, Ore.) had made two starts this season and has two quality outings to his credit. Over the weekend, Fahey saw a solid effort go without a decision as the senior went eight innings in the Boxers' 2-1 extra inning win over Oregon Tech. Fahey allowed just one run on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. In his two starts, Fahey has amassed a 3.78 earned run average, allowing seven runs on 13 hits in a team-high 16.2 innings. He ranks ninth in the NWC in innings pitched.
IMPROVED PITCHING PERFORMANCE: Pacific's three games at the Northwest-Cascade Challenge did wonders to tighten up things for the Pacific pitching staff. The Boxers saw their earned run average drop two points to 4.83 in 10 games. Prior to the weekend, Pacific owned a 6.18 ERA. In the three games, Pacific's seven pitchers allowed just nine runs, seven of those earned. Pacific enters the week ranked fifth in the NWC in earned run average.
KEEPING TIGHT IN THE FIELD: Pacific's trend of keeping their fielding crisp has carried over from 2011 to 2012. The Boxers have committed 10 errors in 10 games for a .970 fielding percentage. A total of seven Pacific players enter the week tied for first in the NWC with a 1.000 field percentage, having met the minimum of appearing in 60 percent of the team's games. Pacific finished the 2011 season as one of the top fielding teams in Division III, amassing a .962 fielding percentage while making 59 errors in 39 games.
HOMECOMING: The season-opening road trip to Hawaii was homecoming for eight players on the Pacific roster who hail from the Islands. Hawaii has been a traditional recruiting ground for Pacific, both on the athletic fields and as part of the general student population. Nearly a third of the undergraduate student body at Pacific is from Hawaii. The list of Pacific baseball players includes NWC Pitcher of the Year
Rob Dittrick (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii),
Anson Arakaki (Jr., Hilo, Hawaii),
Michael Arakaki (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii),
Grant Gabriel (So., Honolulu, Hawaii),
Mike Nagamine (Sr., Aiea, Hawaii),
Brett Nakasone (Jr., Wahiawa, Hawaii),
Nick Tasaka (Jr., Hawaii Kai, Hawaii) and
Rylan Tomita (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii).
SEASON PREVIEW: The complete 2012 Pacific baseball season preview can be found at
http://www.goboxers.com/sports/2012/2/14/BB_0214120514.aspx?tab=baseball&path=baseball.
PACIFIC PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL: After their breakout season in 2011, Northwest Conference coaches have picked the Boxers to finish four in 2012 according to the preseason poll released in January. Pacific picked up 42 of a possible 80 points in the poll. The Boxers finished tied for third last year with Pacific Lutheran, who is picked to finish third once again. Linfield, which advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series, is picked to repeat as NWC champion in 2012, collecting 72 points and eight of nine first place votes. Perennial NWC power George Fox is picked second with 52 points.
