ANTHEM, Ariz. - Ryan Frost hit a two-out single to right field to drive in Dominick Courcy with the winning run in the 11th inning as Pacific Lutheran defeated La Verne, 4-3, at the Arizona Desert Classic on Saturday afternoon at Boulder Creek High School.
With the win, the Lutes improved to 2-1 in the tournament and to 3-2 overall. La Verne is now 7-2 for the season.
Courcy and Sammy Davis drew walks to lead off the bottom of the 11th but were unable to move up on consecutive fly outs. Behind 0-1 in the count, Frost lined the next pitch down the line, driving in the speedy Courcy with the winning run, and Frost was then mobbed by his teammates.
Freshman Chris Bishop started on the mound for the Lutes and allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts in seven innings. He gave way to AJ Konopaski, who threw a scoreless eighth inning, striking out one batter. Frost, a senior all-conference reliever for PLU, added three more shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out three. He picked up the victory to improve his record to 1-0.
Pacific Lutheran took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Frost led off with a single and later scored on Corey Moore's base hit.
La Verne tied it at 1-1 with a run in the top of the sixth, but the Lutes came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Brock Gates led off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and then scored on a double by Jacob Hoffman. Later in the inning, Frost drew a walk and came around on Alec Beal's sacrifice fly.
The Leopards tied the game with a couple of runs in the top of the seventh inning, and both pitching staffs put up zeros until Frost drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th.
PLU finished the game with nine hits, including two apiece from Gates, Frost and Ethan Ottemiller. Frost scored a pair of runs for the Lutes.
Pacific Lutheran closes out the Arizona Desert Classic at 10 a.m. tomorrow when it faces Whittier College at Sandra Day O'Connor High School in Happy Valley.
- PLU -