Baseball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC BASEBALL
PACIFIC AT LEWIS & CLARK (DOUBLEHEADER)
Games No. 13 & 14/Away Games No. 9 & 10
Sat., Mar. 16, Noon, Huston Sports Complex, Portland
Live Video:
client.stretchinternet.com/client/lclark.portal#
PACIFIC AT LEWIS & CLARK
Game No. 15/Away Game No. 11
Sun., Mar. 17, Noon, Huston Sports Comples, Portland
BOXERS ENTER L&C SERIES WITH FIRST UNDER THEIR BELT
At long last, the Pacific baseball team finished off the weekend with a win as the Boxers ended their 11-game slide with a 3-0 shutout of George Fox on Sunday. Pacific will look to truly right the ship next weekend, playing a three-game series at Lewis & Clark. The Pioneers enter the week still looking for their first NWC win of the season.
BOXER BYTES
• Pitcher
Rob Dittrick put together his best game of the season in Saturday's opener, allowing two runs, one earned, on nine hits in a complete game effort. But the Pacific offense managed just two hits against George Fox's Clay Gartner as the Bruins went on to the 2-0 victory.
• George Fox took advantage of five Pacific errors in Saturday's nightcap, putting together a four-run fourth inning and a five-run eighth en route to a 14-4 win over the Boxers. Pacific had nine hits against Goerge Fox starter Connor Harris, led by a 2 for 3 effort from
Charlie Gaff.
• In Sunday's season finale,
Matt Delegato threw the first complete game of his Pacific career, allowing seven hits and four walks while striking out five to lead the Boxers to the 3-0 shutout of the Bruins. Pacific scored all three runs in the sixth on an error and a two-run single by
Michael Arakaki.
• With his performance on Sunday,
Matt Delegato earned his first win of the season in three starts and lowered his earned run average to 2.14 on the season, In 21 innings, he has allowed just six runs, five earned, on 22 hits with nine strikeouts.
•
Walker Olis and
Charlie Gaff led the Boxers offensively as each freshman went 3 for 9, with Gaff tallying two runs and a RBI. Olis continues to lead the Boxers offensively with a .405 average in 11 games.
•
Michael Arakaki put together a 3 for 10 series against George Fox. He had the key two-out single in the sixth inning of the Boxers' shutout on Sunday, roping a ground ball through the left side.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
LEWIS & CLARK
The Pioneers enter the week with a 2-12 record and are still looking for their first win of the season in conference play at 0-3. The Pioneers eanred their first wins of the season over the weekend at the Tucson Invitational. They opened the tourney on Friday with a 6-4 win over Iowa Wesleyan. The Pioneers closed out the win with a two-run ninth after seeing Iowa Wesleyan come back from a 4-0 deficit. Geoff Wertz, Matthew Cathcart and Eric Hyun each went 3 for 4 to lead the Pioneers. L&C dropped both ends of a doubleheader with Wartburg on Saturday, falling 12-3 and 12-5 in a pair of seven-inning games. The Pioneers closed the weekend with a 12-10 victory over Wesleyan (Conn.) on Sunday. L&C took the lead with a six-run fifth inning and then scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh, but had to hold of a rally that saw Wesleyan score two in the seven and two in the eighth. Andrew Traver went 3 for 4 with a run and a RBI to lead the Pioneers. Mike Kinkenon leads the Lewis & Clark offense, batting .333 with 16 hits, eight run, three doubles, two triples and five RBIs. Hyun is batting .310 and Cathcart is batting .300. Starter Ryan Strombom leads the pitching staff with an 0-4 record and 5.47 earned run average, allowing 22 runs, 15 earned, on 26 hits with 12 walks and 14 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. As a team, Lewis & Clark is batting .251 and owns a 7.95 earned run average. Tom Flynn is in his second season as Lewis & Clark head coach.
AGAINST BRADLEY: Pacific leads 39-17
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 2-0 in Forest Grove on Mar. 18, 2012
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
A CAREER PITCHING PERFORMANCE: After spending much of his Pacific career as a reliever,
Matt Delegato (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) earned his way into the starting rotation with a great fall season and strong spring practices. With his performance on Sunday, Delegato may have locked in his position for the rest of the season. Delegato delivered a career performance in leading the Boxers to a 3-0 shutout victory over George Fox on Sunday. Throwing the first complete game of his Pacific career, Delegato allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out five. He coaxed George Fox batters into 14 fly ball outs and allowed just two batters past second base. Delegato enters the week with the Boxers' best earned run average at 2.14, which ranks as the 10th best in the NWC. In 21 innings, Delegato has allowed six runs, five earned, on 22 hits with nine strikeouts. He currently owns a .278 opponent's batting average.
SLOW START BUILDING STEAM: Always known as being a slow starter, Rob Ditrrick's (Sr., Mililani, Hawaii) season is starting to build steam. The senior took a hard luck loss in Saturday's opener to George Fox. In his first complete game of the season, Dittrick allowed two runs, one earned, on nine hits with one walk and four strikeouts in a 2-0 decision. The loss dropped Dittrick to 0-2 on the season, but also lowered the senior's earned run average to 3.12, third best on the team. In 26 innings, Dittrick has allowed 15 runs, only nine of which have been earned, on 34 hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts. Dittrick is aiming for his third straight First Team All-NWC selection after being named to the league's top squad by coaches in 2011 and 2012.
NOT MANY GAFFS AT THE PLATE: Despite seeing his production drop off in the three-game George Fox series,
Charlie Gaff (Fr., Stockton, Calif.) continues to perform well enough to stay in the Pacific lineup both offensively and defensively. The freshman co-led the Boxers with a 3 for 9 series, which included two runs and a RBI. He went 2 for 3 with a run and RBI in Saturday's second game and then went 1 for 3 with a run in the Boxers' 3-0 win on Sunday over the Bruins. Gaff has assumed the starting role in center field vacated by three-year starter
Kevin Schwartz, having started 11 of the Boxers' 12 games at the position. He enters the week with a .228 batting average and is among the Boxers' team leaders with four RBIs.
AND A FRESHMAN SHALL LEAD THEM: The Pacific offense is still relying upon the bat of
Walker Olis (Fr., Burlington, Wash.) to keep their chances alive. Olis enters the week leading the Boxers and ranking seventh in the NWC with his .405 batting average, which includes 15 hits, three runs, a home run and four RBIs He ranks ninth in the league with a .488 on-base percentage and is one of three Pacific starters to own a 1.000 fielding percentage. In the George Fox series, Olis also came through with a 3 for 9 effort and had hits all three games. He leads the Boxers with an 11-game hitting streak and has three multi-hit games to his credit.
ONE WIN AWAY FROM 300: Head Coach
Greg Bradley enters the weekend looking for his 300th victory. Bradley enters the week with a 299-350-2 record, eanring win No. 299 in Sunday's 3-0 shutout of George Fox. 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.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Despite the two losses over the weekend, Chuck Bafaro Stadium continues to be kind to the Boxers. Pacific finished the weekend with as 26-9 record on their home field since 2010. Chuck Bafaro Stadium were indeed friendly confines for the Boxers in their 2012 championship season as they went 15-3 at home. It helped that Pacific played all of their March games at home, which included five games moved to Forest Grove due to unplayable field conditions. The home schedule will be much less fruitful for the Boxers in 2013 with just 13 games slated for Chuck Bafaro Stadium, of of which will come in conference series.
SELECT SCHEDULE OF WEB STREAMED GAMES ON TAP: For the first time, Pacific will provide a live video web stream 11 of the team's 13 home games. The video feed will provide a view of the field from the press box without audio commentary. Games could be added or removed from the schedule depending on weather cancellations or relocations. To view the live video webcasts, please visit goboxers.com/webcasts.
SEASON PREVIEW: The complete 2013 Pacific baseball season preview can be found at
bit.ly/WItPD6.
PACIFIC PICKED FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL: Just as they were before their 2012, Pacific is picked to finish fifth according to a poll of the league's coaches conducted in January. Pacific received 40 of a possible 80 votes, landing one point behind George Fox and 11 points behind Linfield. Whitworth, to co-NWC champion that also won the NCAA Division III West Region, was chosen to repeat with a total of 68 points, including six first place votes, Pacific Lutheran was picked second with 59 points, including three first place votes. Puget Sound and Willamette tied for sixth with 25 points while Lewis & Clark and Whitman were picked to tie for eighth with 12 points apiece.
