Baseball Lands at No. 11 in ABCA Poll

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Announced today by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) the Cal Lutheran baseball squad landed on the first poll of 2013 as the No. 11 ranked team in the country.

The Kingsmen have accumulated a 13-5-1 record at the mid-way point of their season. As a unit CLU is batting .345 with 158 runs on 242 hits. Cal Lutheran has scored 10 or more runs seven times and is undefeated when producing that much offense. The Kingsmen have scored five or more runs in all but two games this spring.

With 10 regular starters hitting over .300, Nick Boggan has paced the offense with a .410 average. Of his 32 hits, 15 are for extra bases with eight homeruns and seven doubles. Boggan leads CLU with both 24 RBIs and 22 runs scored. Jake Petersen is also at a .400 clip with 22 hits, 16 runs and 10 RBIs in eight starts in the field. Boggan is 5-for-5 in stolen bases and Garrett Smith has swiped 5-for-6. Ronnie Burton has a team-high seven steals in 10 tries.

On the mound, CLU has a 4.39 ERA. Petersen has started six games and has a team-leading 41.0 innings pitched. His 29 strike outs ties him with Aaron Roth for the team high. Roth (3-1) has four saves on the season in 28.1 innings of work with an ERA of 1.91. Tyler Hebda has also accumulated a 3-1 record over 35.1 innings in six starts. Mitchell Shields has a 2-0 record, not allowing an earned run in his first five collegiate appearances.

Defensively, Cal Lutheran has a 95.4 fielding percentage in 498 opportunities. The Kingsmen have turned 14 double-plays. Boggan has been perfect in the field with 143 putouts and 11 assists. Both Boggan and Trevor Koons have been part of 12 DPs and Smithhas had a hand in eight.

CLU upset a pair of teams this year with wins over then No. 5 Whitworth (Wash.) and then No. 18 Bridgewater (Va.).

Cal Lutheran (13-5-1) is joined on the poll by SCIAC foe No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer (15-5). Both received votes in the pre-season poll. La Verne also received votes for the first poll of 2013.

Leading the nation at the moment is No. 1 Salisbury (Md.) with a 13-2 record followed by Trinity (Tex.) and Cortland (NY) with 19-4 and 10-4 records, respectively, to round out the top-three teams.  

Poll: ABCA Poll - March 19
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