The Pioneer baseball team finished the 2008 campaign with 12 Northwest Conference victories, tied for 7th in the NWC.

The Pioneers' decisive sweep of the Whitman Missionaries gave the team some late season momentum. The Pioneers outscored the Missionaries 46-16 in the series. The momentum carried into the next weekend when the Pioneers earned a 17-7 victory at Puget Sound. After UPS, the Pioneers had to go to McMinnville to face the 12th-ranked team in DIII, the Wildcats. The Pioneers lost a hearbreaking 2-1 game in the first of Sunday's games in the doubleheader, but rallied to win 4-0 in the second game, handing the Wildcats, a team that would advance to the NCAA III Baseball Finals, their first shutout of the season. The Pioneers capped their NWC season by taking three of four games against the Pacific Boxers.

Pioneer baseball players  had a solid showing in post-season honors. Rookie pitcher Tucker Laurence (freshmna, Napa, Calif.) finished off his first collegiate season with a 7-1 record and a 2.87 ERA, one of the top-five in the Northwest Conference. After becoming the first Pioneer freshman to earn the Lewis & Clark Joe Huston Male Athlete of the Year award, he was also named to the All-Northwest Conference first team. Joining him on the first team was another first-year Pioneer, outfielder Jordan Wlodarczyk (junior, Lake Oswego, Ore.). Wlodarczyk, a transfer from Chapman College, battled for the Conference batting title through the final game of the season, posted a .389 batting average, ending up fourth best in the NWC. Third baseman Sami Morgan (sophomore, San Mateo, Calif.) was named to the second team. Morgan batted .358 for the Pioneers and was a huge defensive help on the left side.

Jordan Shibata (senior, Pearl City, Hawaii), Jordon Smiley (senior, Las Vegas, Nevada) and AJ Brown (junior, Vancouver, Wash.) all received honorable mentions. Jordan Shibata started all 40 games for the Pioneers at short, batting .349 and scoring a team-high 45 runs. Shibata also led the Pioneers in home runs this season, hitting 7. This is his third honorable mention. He was named to the Second Team in 2006.

Pitcher Jordon Smiley was fourth in the NWC this season in strikeouts, with 49. He led the Pioneers in innings pitched and had the lowest opponent batting average. This is his second honorable mention. He was named second team in 2006. 

AJ Brown received his honorable mention as a utility player. Brown led the team in RBI, driving in 28 runs, while catching, playing the outfield, and serving as the DH.

Jordan Shibata and Jordon Smiley ended their Pioneer careers, but have left a permanent mark in the Pioneer record books. Short stop Shibata ends his career as the all-time Pioneer career leader in hits (205), second in runs scored (144), first in at-bats (572), and sixth in career batting average with a .358. Pitcher Smiley is second on the Pioneer career strikeout list with 204 K’s in his four seasons with the Pioneers.

Click here to find an archive of individual game recaps and other news from the 2008 season.