Baseball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC BASEBALL
PACIFIC AT WHITMAN (DOUBLEHEADER)
Games No. 25 & 26/Away Games No. 17 & 18
Sat., Apr. 6, Noon, Borleske Stadium, Walla Walla, Wash.
Live Stats:
www.whitman.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm
Live Video:
client.stretchinternet.com/client/whitman.portal#
PACIFIC AT WHITMAN
Game No. 27/Away Game No. 19
Sun., Apr. 6, Noon, Borleske Stadium, Walla Walla, Wash.
Live Stats:
www.whitman.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm
Live Video:
client.stretchinternet.com/client/whitman.portal#
BOXERS ENTER APRIL AIMING TO CLIMB TO .500 IN NWC
After a successful Southern California road trip and a tough three-game home series against Willamette, the Pacific baseball team will look to potentially move above .500 in Northwest Conference play on the road. The Boxers will head east to Walla Walla, Wash., for a three-game series against much improved Whitman team.
BOXER BYTES
• After taking two of three games from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps last weekend, Pacific recieved a stron seven-inning spot start from
Nick Morton and a three-hit performance from
Donnie Bradley to finish the Southern California trip with an 8-2 victory over Whittier.
• Pacific threw a bullpen game in taking their third loss of the year to Corban on Wednesday, using seven different pitchers (including two regular position players) in a 7-4 loss.
Ben Duerr led Pacific at the plate with two of the Boxers' four hits.
• The opening of the three-game series at home against Willamette did not go the Boxers' way on Friday as Willamette starters limited to a total of seven hits at the Bearcats went on to win 4-1 and 5-1.
Walker Olis had two of the Boxers' three hits in the first game.
• The Boxers went on a tear in the series finale on Saturday, pounding out 17 hits to roll to a 13-3 win over Willamette.
Donnie Bradley,
Michael Arakaki and
Charlie Gaff all had three hits to lead the Pacific hit parade.
• With his wins at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and against Willamette,
Matt Delegato has now won his last four starts and last four decisions. The senior needed just five innings to earn the win over the Bearcats on Saturday. He owns the Boxers' best earned run average at 2.14 and ranks eighth in the NWC.
• As a staff, Pacific has seen their pitching come back into control after a rough start of the season. The Boxers finished with a 3.27 earned run average in March and lowered their season total ERA to 3.52, ranking fourth in the NWC.
•
Walker Olis continues to pace the Pacific offense, entering the week tied for fifth in the NWC with a .395 batting average. He ranks fifth in the NWC with a .495 on-base percentage and seventh with a .592 slugging percentage.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
WHITMAN
The improved Missionaries enter the week in eighth place in the NWC at 5-10 and are 10-15 overall. After taking two of three from George Fox at home the previous weekend, Whitman dropped two of three games on the road at Lewis & Clark last weekend. On Friday, Whitman pounded out 11 hits against the Pioneers, but left 10 on base in a 7-5 loss. Aaron Cohen went 3 for 5 with a RBI to lead the Missionaries. The two teams then split the Saturday doubleheader. Whitman took an early 5-0 lead in the opener and went on to the 9-3 win behind a solid combined pitching performance by Spencer Hobson and Brett Lambert. Ozzy Braff and Riley Rockwell each went 2 for 4 to lead the Missionaries. L&C hurler John Trupin thre a complete game to hold Whitman off guard in the nightcap for a 7-3 win. Cohen and Kyle Buckham each went 3 for 4 for the Missionariees and Kyle Moyes added a home run, but the effort was not enough. Cohen leads Whitman and is tied with Pacific's
Walker Olis for fifth in the NWC with a .395 batting average, including 30 hits, nine doubles and 18 RBIs. Hobson leads Whitman's starting pitchers with a 3-0 record and 1.93 earned run average in six appearances and five starts. As a team, Whitman is hitting .344 and owns a 4.47 earned run average. They have a .371 opponent's batting average. Sean Kinney, a former Whitman player and longtime assistant coach, is Whitman's interim head coach. He assumed control of the program in June after Jared Halowaty resigned to join his father's staff at Easrern Connecticut State University.
AGAINST BRADLEY: Pacific leads 39-10
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 6-5 at Forest Grove on Apr. 7, 2012
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
STILL HOT ON THE MOUND: The surprise of the season for the Pacific pitching staff continues to keep up some very solid apperances.
Matt Delegato (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) won his fourth straight decision on Saturday. He needed only five innings to earn his fourth win of the season over Willamette on Saturday, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The victory capped a very good month of March for Delegato, who has now won every start since Mar. 10 and lowered his earned run average from 3.75 on Mar. 2 to 2.14. Delegato enters the week leading the Pacific pitching staff and ranking eighth in the NWC with a 2.14 earned run average. He is tied for seventh in the NWC with his four wins and is tied for fourth with his two complete games. In 42 innings, Delegato has allowed 13 runs, 10 earned, on 44 hits with 25 strikeouts and enters the week with a .270 opponent's batting average. In the Mar. 26 NCAA Division III statistics report (for games through Mar. 24), Delegato ranked 81st with three wins and was 44th with his two complete games.
CONTINUING TO ROUND INTO FORM: The season continues to round into form for
Rob Dittrick (Sr., Mililani, Hawaii) as he looks ahead to the last month of his collegiate career. Dittrick took a tough loss on Friday to Willamette, allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work as the Boxers fell 4-1. Pacific provided their ace just three hits of offensive support. The week before, Dittrick picked up his second win of the season by allowing six hits and striking out six in a 5-0 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. After a fairly rough start to the season, Dittrick has settled down to again be a solid presence for the Boxers on the mound. Ranking third for Pacific and 10th in the NWC with a 2.35 earned run average, Dittrick also is tied for seventh in the NWC with his one complete game (against George Fox on Mar. 9) and ninth with 46 innings pitched. In the Mar. 26 NCAA Division III ststistics report, Dittrick was ranked 24th with just 0.68 walks allowed per nine innings and 52nd with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.0.
A SOLID PITCHING STAFF AGAIN: Much like it has over the past three years, the Pacific pitching staff is doing their part to keep the Boxers in games. The Boxers own a 3.52 team earned run average, fourth best in the NWC entering the week. The team was ranked 98th among all Division III teams in last week's NCAA statistics report. The Boxers have come along after a rough start over the team's first 11 games. The Boxers had a season high team 4.77 earned run average after dropping both ends of their doubleheader at Linfield on Mar. 2.
THE FRESHMAN STILL LEADS THEM: The bat of
Walker Olis (Fr., Burlington, Wash.) still continues to lead the Boxers offensively. The right fielder enters the week leading Pacific and ranking fifth in the NWC with a .395 batting average. He also ranks fifth in the NWC with his .495 on base percentage and seventh with a .592 slugging percentage. In addition, Olis is tied for fourth in the league with his two triples, tied for sixth with his two home runs and tied for eighth with 12 walks. Olis went 4 for 11 in the three-game Willamette series, which included going 2 for 3 with two runs in Saturday's 13-3 win over Willamette. Olis opened his Pacific career with a 14-game hitting streak and leads the team with eight multi-hit games.
STEPPING UP OVER SPRING BREAK: After a lackluster start to the season,
Donnie Bradley (So., Beaverton, Ore.) put together his best week of the year thus far over the five spring break games. Bradley went 7 for 18 in the five games with three RBIs and two runs scored. He went 3 for 4 with a run to lead the Boxers in their 8-2 win over Whittier on Monday and was one of three Pacific players to have three hits in Saturday's 13-3 win over Willamette, going 3 for 4 with a run and a RBI. A Second Team All-NWC outfielder as a freshman, Bradley had started 20 of the Boxers' 24 games this season at his natural positions of second base and shortstop.
DUERR DOING IT: Ben Duerr (Fr., Lebanon, Ore.) was limited to pinch-hitting and pinch-running appearances for much of the first month of the season, but has earned a chance to show what he can do in the field and at the plate. Duerr has started five of the Boxers' last six games, three as an outfielder and three as the Boxers' designated hitter. In that stretch, he has succeeded to pull his average up to .269. He has his best offensive performance against Corban on Wednesday when he went 2 for 4 with a RBI.
GIVE IT AWAY, GIVE IT AWAY, GIVE IT AWAY NOW: Part of the longtime modus operandi for Head Coach
Greg Bradley, Pacific is again among the national leaders in sacrifices. The Boxers lead the NWC in sacrifice hits with 30 and are third in the league with six sacrifice flies. In the Mar. 26 NCAA Division III statistics report (for games through Mar. 24), the Boxers were eighth in the nation with 26 sacrifice hits. Individually, junior transfer catcher
Dan Jaffe (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.) has distinguished himself as the national leader in sacrifice hits, tying with four other Division III players with eight through Mar. 24. He added one over the last week.
DON'T PLAN ON WALKING AGAINST THESE GUYS: Pacific is making opposing hitters earn their way on base. The Boxers have allowed just 61 walks in their 24 games this season. Their average of 2.6 walks allowed per nine innings through games of Mar. 24 ranked 28th among all NCAA Division III teams.
Rob Dittrick ranked 24th individually with 0.68 walsk allowed per nine innings while
Kyle Treadway (So., Phoenix, Ore.) was 81st with 1.42 walks per nine innings.
GREG BRADLEY GETS WIN NO. 300: Pacific Head Coach
Greg Bradley reached a milestone on Sat., Mar. 16, becoming just the second coach in program history to amass 300 wins. The Boxers gave their skipper No. 300 in explosive style, beating Lewis & Clark in that day's opener 19-3. The winningest active coach in Northwest Conference baseball enters the week with a 304-345-2 record. Bradley is in his 18th season as Pacific head coach, taking over for the 1996 season. He began at Pacific in 1993 as an assistant coach under the winningest coach in program history, Pacific Hall of Famer Chuck Bafaro. In his tenure, Bradley has led the Boxers to 20-win seasons six times, topped by the 2012 NWC championship squad. In addition to his head coaching duties, Bradley also works as Pacific's athletic facilities manager.
OLIS EARNS NWC WEEKLY HONORS: Walker Olis' offensive performance in the Mar. 16-17 Lewis & Clark earned the freshman selection as the Northwest Conference's Baseball Student-Athlete of the Week. Olis led Pacific offensively in the series, going 6 for 10 with a pair of doubles, a home run, three runs scored six RBIs. Olis opened the series by going 2 for 2 with two RBIs and two runs in the Saturday 19-3 rout of the Pioneers. He had one hit in the rain-interrupted second game of the series and then punctuated his week by going 3 for 5 with four RBIs and a three-run homer in Sunday's 5-1 victory.
CONCORDIA GAMES OFF OF THE SCHEDULE: Pacific's second game of the season against Concordia (Ore.), scheduled for Tuesday, has been cancelled. The game is not expected to be made up. The game was dropped by Concordia in favor of a rain make-up game against George Fox on Tuesday in Newberg. Pacific had a previously scheduled game this season against the Cavaliers, Feb.22 in Portland, postponed because of rain.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Chuck Bafaro Stadium continues to be kind to the Boxers. Pacific finished the weekend with as 27-11 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.
