TACOMA, Washington – The Northwest Conference comes to Puget Sound when the Logger baseball team hosts Pacific, Feb. 25-26. Friday will be a single game starting at 1 p.m., and Saturday's doubleheader starts at 11 a.m.
 
Tamed cats
Puget Sound began its 2022 NWC season by winning two of three games at Linfield last week (Feb. 19-20). The Loggers totaled 22 runs and hit four home runs. Cody Hirano, Gio Parascondola, Makana Murashige, and Jacob Ota each homered against the Wildcats.
 
Hammering the zone
Owen Shellhammer won his third consecutive start at Linfield (Feb. 19). He held the Wildcats hitless through the sixth inning, and exited the game after allowing just one earned run through seven. He struck out seven batters. Shellhammer is the only pitcher in the NWC with three wins. He ranks second in strikeouts (17), and third in ERA (1.00).
 
Beckley from the bullpen
Among qualified pitchers, Tyler Beckley's 0.79 ERA ranks second in the NWC, and his .105 opponent batting average leads the conference. Beckley has thrown 11.1 innings in six appearances this season, all of which are out of the bullpen.
 
Consistently consistent
Kyle Strash's .457 batting average ranks second in the NWC. His .604 on-base percentage leads all conference players, and he ranks second in runs scored (14).
 
One dozen steaks
Dylan has a team-high 12 RBI, which ranks third in the NWC. His four home runs are tied for the conference leads.
 
Scouting Pacific (6-4, 1-2 NWC)
The defending NWC champions began the 2022 conference season by losing two of three games against Pacific Lutheran (Feb. 19-20). As a team, the Boxers are hitting .297 and have a 4.60 ERA. Ty Yukumoto is hitting a team-high .359, and Andrew Thomas has a team-high three home runs. Ryan Krout leads Pacific in RBI (15). The only two Boxers with three starts, Kahi Bisho and Will Clark, have a 7.27 ERA and 11.81 ERA, respectively.