Baseball Weekly Notebook

Baseball Weekly Notebook

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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC BASEBALL
PACIFIC AT PACIFIC LUTHERAN
Games No. 35 & 36/Away Games No. 15 & 16
Sat., Apr. 28, Noon, PLU Baseball Field, Parkland, Wash.
Live Stats: www.plu.edu/athletics-stats/baseball/livestats/xlive
Live Audio: client.stretchinternet.com/client/plu.portal#

PACIFIC AT PACIFIC LUTHERAN
Game No. 37/Away Game No. 17
Sat., Apr. 28, Noon, PLU Baseball Field, Parkland, Wash.
Live Stats: www.plu.edu/athletics-stats/baseball/livestats/xlive
Live Audio: client.stretchinternet.com/client/plu.portal#

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE FINAL WEEKEND OF THE SEASON
Thanks to their three-game sweep of Puget Sound and Whitworth's three-game sweep of Willamette, Pacific baseball's quest for their first Northwest Conference championship since 1979 will come down to the last weekend.  The Boxers will finish up the regular season on the road, traveling north to face third place Pacific Lutheran for a three-game series.

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific dropped their final non-conference game of the season Tuesday, losing 7-2 to Corban.  Kevin Schwartz had an impressive hitting effort, going 3 for 4 with two runs.  Brad Williams went 2 for 4.

• Rob Dittrick won his eighth game of the season on Saturday, throwing a six-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to give the Boxers a 3-0 first game win over Puget Sound on Saturday.  Dittrick did not allow a runner past second base as he claimed his fifth complete game win and second shutout.

• It took a little bottom of the ninth magic for the Boxers to take the second game of the series against the Loggers.  Kevin Schwartz scored Anson Arakaki on a single up the left side to tie the game and Nick Tasaka's single up the middle scored Donnie Bradley for the game-winner in the 3-2 win.  Both Schwartz and Tasaka finished with two hits apiece.

• The seniors took charge on Senior Day to give the Boxers a 5-2 win on Sunday and a sweep of Puget Sound.  Chad Fahey allowed two runs on six hits in 8.1 innings for his fifth win, Kevin Schwartz went 3 for 4 with three RBI and drove in the winning run with a two-run single and Jared Van Hoon earned his third save of the season.

• Sunday's win gave Pacific their second straight 20-win season and the Boxers' third in the past five years and also gave Head Coach Greg Bradley his 296th win in 17 years as Pacific head coach.

• Pacific enters the week with a one-game lead over Whitworth and a two-game lead over Pacific Lutheran.  The Boxers' magic number for clitching a share of the NWC title is two and the magic number to secure the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament is three.

• Pacific enters the week as one of the top pitching and fielding teams in the nation.  Pacific's .971 fielding percentage leads the league and was eighth in last week's NCAA Division III rankings.  The team's 3.67 earned run average (through Apr. 15) was second in the NWC and 57th among NCAA Division III teams.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
PACIFIC LUTHERAN
The Lutes enter this week in third place in the NWC at 15-6 and 23-11 overall.  PLU needs to sweep all three games from Pacific, along with some help from Whitman, to have a shot at the NWC title.  The Lutes enter the week on a five-game win streak after taking all three games in a road series at Lewis & Clark.  In Saturday's opener, Trevor Lubking allowed just one first inning run while holding the Pioneers to four hits over eight innings in a 11-1 win.  PLU broke the game open with a four-run second inning, paced by a 4 for 6 day from Dominick Courcy.  The Lutes repeated the comeback in the second game, capitalizing on six Pioneers errors to take the 11-2 win.  Brock Gates went 3 for 4 with two runs and three RBI to lead the Lutes.  The two teams engaged on a tighter game on Sunday.  PLU owned a 9-4 lead going into the bottom of the ninth when L&C scored four runs against a pair of PLU relievers.  AJ Konopaski came on to finally retire the side and secure the 9-8 win.  Gates, Jaron Iwakami and Ethan Ottemiller each had two hits to pace PLU.  The previous weekend, PLU took two of three games from George Fox to start the five-game win streak.  Gates is the league's leading hitter, batting .416 in 34 games with 62 hits, seven home runs and 43 RBI.  Iawakai is ranked sixth with a .373 average.  Collin Nilson leads the starting pitching staff with a 5-2 record and a 3.04 earned run average.  In 47.1 innings, Nilson has allowed 18 runs, 16 earned, on 39 hits with 22 strikeouts.  As a team, PLU has the league's second best batting average at .296 and their 3.98 earned run average ranks fourth.  Geoff Loomis is in 10th year as PLU head coach.

AGAINST BRADLEY: PLU leads 31-20
LAST MEETING: Pacific Lutheran won 6-1 in Tacoma, Wash., on Mar. 20, 2011.

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS DEFEINED: With one week remaining in the Northwest Conference season, nothing is decided in terms of the NWC championship and who will get the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Pacific, Whitworth and PLU all remain in contention, with Pacific playing at PLU and Whitworth hosting Whitman.  Here is what each team needs to hoist the trophy and punch their ticket to the postseason.

PACIFIC
To Clinch Share Of NWC Title: Any combination of two Pacific wins & Whitworth losses.
To Win NWC Title Outright & NCAA Tournament Berth: Any combination of three Pacific wins & Whitworth losses.

WHITWORTH
To Clinch Share Of NWC Title & NCAA Tournament Qualifier: Any combination of four Whitworth wins plus Pacific losses (Whitworth holds tiebreaker for automatic qualifier over Pacific).
To Clinch NWC Title Outright: Any combination of five Whitworth wins plus Pacific losses.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN
To Clinch Share Of NWC Title: PLU must beat Pacific three times and Whitworth must lose once.
To Clinch NWC Title Outright & NCAA Tournament Qualifier: PLU must best Pacific three times and Whitworth must lose twice (Whitworth owns tiebreaker for automatic qualifier over PLU).

THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED: Pacific will be playing for a chance to do some things that the Boxers have never done in most of their players' lifetimes.  Pacific last won a Northwest Conference title in 1979 when the team shared in a three-way tie with Linfield and Willamette.  The Boxers have not won a conference title outright since 1968, when they finished a game ahead of Linfield in the standings.  Pacific last played in postseason competition at the end of 1991 season.  The Boxers went 1-2 that year in the NAIA District II Tournament.  The Boxers lost to George Fox 15-5 and beat College of Idaho 3-2 before being eliminated in a 10-2 loss to Linfield.

DITTRICK CONTINUES TO DEAL: Rob Dittrick (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii) continues to put together amazing performances for the Boxers in his starting pitching role.  The junior put together his fifth complete game and his second shutout of the season in Saturday's opener against Puget Sound.  Earning his eighth straight win to improve to 8-1 on the season, Dittrick allowed just six hits and no walks while striking out eight.  He did not allow a runner past second base as the Boxers went on to the 3-0 victory.  It is just another typical effort for the reigning NWC Pitcher of the Year, who has put up some amazing season numbers.  He enters the week leading the NWC with an amazing 1.88 earned run average.  If the season ended today, the ERA would rank No. 8 on the Pacific single season list.  Dittrick also leads the NWC in wins, is second with his five complete games, tied for third with his 72 innings pitched (which is also No. 10 on Pacific's single season list), and is tied for eighth in starts (10).  In addition, Dittrick enters the week having allowed just one walk in his last 27 innings and is averaging one walk allowed per nine innings pitched.  

In last week's NCAA Division III statistics (for games through Apr. 15), Dittrick was ranked eighth nationally with seven wins, 36th with his four complete games and 77th with his 2.14 earned run average.  Expect all three of those rankings to move up when the weekly report is released on Tuesday.

THE SCHWARTZ IS WITH US: The hitting performance over the week of Kevin Schwartz (Sr., Milwaukie, Ore.) proved to be a critical part of Pacific's successes this season.  The senior center fielder batted .500 in the four games over the week with nine hits, two doubles, two runs scored and six runs batted in.  He posted a .500 on base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage.  Schwartz opened and closed the week with a pair of three-hit performances.  He went 3 for 4 with a double and two runs in Tuesday's loss to Corban.  On Sunday, Schwartz again went 3 for 4 with three RBI and a double.  He had the two-run single in the fifth inning of the game drove in what wound up as the Boxers' winning run.  In addition, Schwartz had the game-tying single for the Boxers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of Saturday's second game, scoring Anson Arakaki (Jr., Hilo, Hawaii) to tie the game en route to the team's 3-2 win.  Schwartz enters the week as the Boxers' leading hitter, batting .338 with 46 hits, seven doubles, a triple and a home run.  He enters this week with a five-game hitting streak.  In addition, Schwartz continues to be errorless in the field on 88 chances and has last committed an error during his freshman 2009 season.

ANOTHER SOLID PERFORMANCE: Chad Fahey (Sr., Keizer, Ore.) turned in another solid performance in his final home game to help lead the Boxers to a 5-2 win in the final game of the series against Puget Sound.  In 8.1 innings of work, Fahey allowed two ninth inning runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts.  He escaped bases loaded james in the second and fifth innings.  The effort gave Fahey his fifth win of the season.  Fahey continues to be a key member of a solid Pacific pitching staff.  The senior is tied for fifth in the league with his five wins and is tied for third with his two complete games.  He ranks seventh with 67.1 innings pitched and 48 strikeouts and is ninth in the league with his 3.21 earned run average.

A WIN AND A SAVE: Jared Van Hoon's (Sr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) biggest contributions in the Puget Sound series came on the mound in a pair of key relief appearances.  Van Hoon entered Saturday's second game against the Loggers for reliever Quin Moore (So., Bellingham, Wash.) in the top of the ninth and coaxed batters into a fly out and a strikeout.  Van Hoon earned the win as the Boxers came back to score two runs in the top of the ninth for a 3-2 victory.  On Sunday, Van Hoon was called upon to get the final out in the 5-2 victory to earn his third save of the season.  Pacific's starting third baseman in all three games, Van Hoon enters the week with a 2-0 record in 7.1 innings of work with a 1.23 earned run average and 10 strikeouts.

MR. CLUTCH COMES THROUGH: Nick Tasaka (Jr., Hawaii Kai, Hawaii) proved to be Pacific's version of Mr. Clutch on Saturday, coming through with the game-winning hit in the Boxers' 3-2 second game win.  Tasaka came through with a single up the middle that bounced off the pitcher's mound, which allowed Donnie Bradley (Fr., Beaverton, Ore.) home to score the winning run and complete the rally.  The hit capped  a five-hit day for Tasaka.  He went 3 for 4 with a run scored in Saturday's opener and then went 2 for 5 with the game-winning RBI in the ninth.  Tasaka enters the week ranked second for the Boxers with a .330 average, which includes 33 hits, 18 runs, five doubles, a home run and 15 RBI.

THE MARCH TO 300 WINS: This weekend's games have the possibility to move Head Coach Greg Bradley ever closer to his 300th win.  Bradley earned win No. 296 with Sunday's 5-2 victory over Puget Sound.  Should Pacific advance to postseason play, the 17th year head coach would have a chance to earn win No. 300 in the NCAA Tournament.  Bradley took over as Pacific head coach in 1996 after serving four seasons as an assistant coach under the legendary Chuck Bafaro and one season under Jerry Hand.

ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON: Sunday's win over Puget Sound also gave Pacific a milestone 20th win in 2012.  The win allowed Pacific to finish with their second straight 20-win season and their third in the last five years.  The Boxers came close to a fourth 20-win season in 2009, finishng the year at 19-20.  This year's 20-win effort is also the sixth for Pacific over the last 11 seasons dating back to the 2002 team that won a school record 25 games.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: The good thing that was Pacific's 10-game win streak came to an end with the Boxers' two non-conference losses on Apr. 10 and 11.  The win streak began on Mar. 11 with a 3-0 shutout of George Fox and ended with the Boxers' 6-5 win over Whitman on Apr. 7.  In addition, Pacific's 11-game NWC win streak, which also began with the Mar. 11 win over George Fox, came to an end with their 7-1 loss to Whitworth in Saturday's nightcap.  Both streaks are believed to be the longest in program history.

In addition, the week's five road games ended a unique stretch of home games that saw the Boxers play at home the entire month of March.  Thanks to the move of their entire three-game series with George Fox to Forest Grove, Pacific played nine straight home games in March, all against NWC opponents.  With the Apr. 7 game against Whitman, the Boxers ended a string that saw them play 14 of 15 games at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.  The only road game in the stretch was the Apr. 1 game at Willamette.  The final two games of that NWC series were moved to Forest Grove due to unplayable field conditions.

IN THE NCAA STATISTICS: Pacific was ranked in the top-100 in seventh statistical categories in the latest NCAA Division III baseball statistical report for games through Apr. 15.  Pacific is ranked eighth with their .971 fielding percentage and ranked 33rd with their 2.75 walks allowed per nine innings.  Pacific also ranks 41st in sacrifice bunts (28), 47th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.79), 57th in earned run average (3.67) and 63rd in hit by pitch (40).  Individually, Rob Dittrick was ranked eighth in wins (7), 36th in complete games (4) and 77th in earned run average (2.14); Donnie Bradley (Fr., Beaverton, Ore.) was ranked 34th in sacrifice bunts per game (0.27) and 46th in sacrifice bunts (7) and Mike McGuire (Sr., Olympia, Wash.) was ranked 38th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.19).  The NCAA statistics are released weekly on Tuesdays and can be viewed at http://bit.ly/hl0JH7.

OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD: Pacific continues to rank as one of the most solid fielding teams in both the conference and at the NCAA Division III level.  The Boxers maintained a .971 fielding percentage over the week, which leads the conference.  In the Apr. 15 edition of the NCAA Division III stats, Pacific ranked eighth in fielding percentage.  St. Thomas (Minn.) leads Division III with a .978 fielding percentage.

BOXERS CONTINUE TO GET LOVE IN COACHES POLL: Despite losing two of three games to Whitworth last weekend and two non-conference games, Pacific still was among those receiving votes in the Apr. 17 edition of the ABCA Division III Top 25 Poll.  Pacific was among 19 teams listed as receiving votes in the poll.  Pacific had emerged as the No. 27 team when it was released the previous week on Apr. 10.  Pacific fell from mention on the D3Baseball.com poll after having been among teams receiving votes on Apr. 9.  The ABCA Poll can be viewed at www.muhlenberg.edu/sports/abcapoll.html, while the D3Baseball.com poll can bew viewed at www.d3baseball.com/top25.

SERIES-LY PERFORMING IN THE NWC: Pacific's series loss to Whitworth marked the end of a string of five straight NWC series victories dating back to the 2011 season.  Pacific last dropped a series was on Apr. 22 & 23, 2011, when they were swept at Puget Sound.  As part of that stretch, the Boxers post their first string of three consecutive NWC series sweeps in the modern history of the program as they took all three games from Lewis & Clark, Willamette and Whitman.

SEASON HONORS: The Boxers have been blessed with five selections as NWC Baseball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week along with three selections to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week this season.

Rob Dittrick was named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week on Mar. 22 for his one-hit, seven-hit performance in the Boxers' 16-1 rout of Lewis & Clark on Mar. 17.  Dittrick was also named NWC Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week twice.  He was selected for the conference honor on Apr. 17 after throwing a complete-game three-hitter against Whitman on Apr. 6 Back on Mar. 6, Dittrick was honored for his five-hit complete game effort that gave Pacific a 7-1 victory over then-No. 2 Linfield.

Nate Rasmussen was selected to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week on Mar. 13 after batting .500 in the three-game set against George Fox, going 6 for 12 with two doubles, three runs, a home run and two runs batted in.

Jared Van Hoon was selected to the first D3Baseball.com Team of the Week on Mar. 6 after he batted .462 with six hits, three doubles, two runs and two RBI in the Linfield series.

Chad Fahey has twice been named as the NWC Baseball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week.  Fahey was honored on Mar. 13 after throwing a complete-game six-hit shutout against George Fox on Mar. 11.  He earned the honor again the next week after completing a 2-0 compelte game shutout of Lewis & Clark on Mar. 18.

IMPROVING AT THE PLATE: Pacific finished the 2011 season as one of the worst hitting teams in NCAA Division III baseball.  This year, the Boxers are seeing the bats backing up their pitching quite well.  Pacific enters the week batting .270 after hitting just .249 last season.  The Boxers have made the most improvement in their offensive production since the conference season began.  Pacific is hitting .288 in their 21 NWC games.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: The three-game series against George Fox on Mar. 10 & 11 featured a rarity in college athletics as both teams featured a father-son combination.  Donnie Bradley (Fr., Beaverton, Ore.) is in his first season at Pacific playing for his father, Head Coach Greg Bradley.  Donnie Bradley made two starts for the Boxers in the Bruins' series in left field.  He was an Honorable Mention Oregon 6A All-State selection last year for Beaverton's Westview High School.  In the other dugout, George Fox Head Coach Marty Hunter was in his third season coaching his son, Taylor.  An All-Northwest Conference performer in 2009 before transferring to Oregon State for a year, Taylor is the Bruins' regular starter at shortstop.

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.
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