TACOMA, Wash.—Sophomore Luke Ritter shut down Pacific Lutheran with seven scoreless innings and senior Jack Thomson hit three home runs to lead Lewis & Clark College baseball to a doubleheader split against Pacific Lutheran University in their 2023 Northwest Conference opener. 
 
THE BASICS
Pacific Lutheran University 9, Lewis & Clark 3
Lewis & Clark 7, Pacific Lutheran 2
(Lewis & Clark 8-2, NWC 1-1) 
(PLU 6-3, NWC 1-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
After Pacific Lutheran scored nine runs in the first five innings on Saturday, sophomore Ryan Harvey and Ritter combined to hold the Lutes scoreless for the next 11 innings. 
 
Thomson provided the brunt of the offense with three solo home runs and three free passes (two walks and one hit by pitch. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
 Pacific Lutheran scored nine-straight runs to grab a 9-1 lead and cruised to a 9-3 victory over the Pioneers in both team's 2023 conference opener. 
 
Thomson led the Pios offensively by going 3-4 with two runs, an RBI and a double and a home run. Sophomore BrennenDavis added two hits, a double and an RBi. 
 
On the mound, junior Brett Pierson took the loss after allowing 10 hits, nine runs (seven earned) in four innings. Harvey went a career-high four innings in relief and allowed four hits, one walk, no runs, and struck out one. 
 
Thomson gave the Pioneers a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the first. With one down, Thomson crushed a home run to center field to make it 1-0. 
 
The Lutes tied the game in the bottom of the first and scored three runs in the second, three more in the fourth and two in the fifth to grab a 9-1 lead. 
 
Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 9-3 in the ninth. Blake Tellinghusen opened the inning with a single and Thomson walked with two down to put two on for Davis. The sophomore belted a double down the left-field line to plate Jack Savant and Thomson. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Ritter quieted the Lutes bats for seven innings and Thomson and Savant combined to hit three home runs in a 7-2 win. 
 
The Pios southpaw scattered six hits and one walk, while striking out seven in his first career shutout start.
 
Thomson finished 3-3 with two runs, two RBI, two walks and a pair of home runs. Savant tacked on two hits, one run, two RBI and his third home run of the year. Will Heron and Jakob Ghammachi each added two hits and a run scored. 
 
Pacific Lutheran elected to pitch to Thomson in his first two at-bats of game two and quickly regretted it. Thomson belted his second home run of the day in the first and added a home run to dead center in the third to make it 2-0. 
 
The score would stay at 2-0 for the next four innings. Pacific Lutheran put runners on in six of Ritter's seven frames. In the second, each of the first two batters reached but Ritter bared down and retired the next three batters. The Lutes put two runners in scoring position in the third but Ritter struck out Cole Trotignon. He added a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in the fifth when PLU put the first two runners on. 
 
Lewis & Clark blew the game open in the top of the eighth. Heron opened the inning with a double and Dylan Moore walked to put runners at the corners. Ghammachi greeted a reliever with an RBI double to plate Heron. Freshman Brandon Gonzaga followed with a 2-run single to to make it 5-0 and Savant capped the scoring with a two-run homer against the third pitcher of the innings for the hosts. 
 
Pacific Lutheran struck for two runs against reliever Tyler Shimabukuro in the bottom of the eighth. Each of the first three batters reached to make it 7-2 but Shimabukuro struck out two of the next four batters to keep the hosts at bay. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Ritter's seven innings pitched tied a career-high. He is 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA in 17.2 innings to open his sophomore campaign. 
• Thomson became the eighth player in program history to reach 100 career RBI on Saturday. He currently sits tied for seventh with 101 RBI. 
• After not hitting a home run in his first 67 games, Savant has now hit three home runs in his past four games. 
• Thomson moved into second-place in program history in runs scored (143) on Saturday. He also ranks second in home runs (32) and third in walks (105).  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will play another doubleheader against the Lutes on Sunday. The first game will be a conference contest (11:00 a.m.) and the second game will be a non-conference matchup against a conference foe (2:30 p.m.)