WALLA WALLA, Wash. – A late-innings flurry of action brought the tying run to the plate but Whitman College wasn't able to complete the rally dropping the nightcap, 10-6, to visiting Whitworth University after falling to the Pirates, 11-5, in Wednesday's opening game of a Northwest Conference twin bill at rainy Borleske Stadium.
Whitman (4-16, 3-11 NWC) pushed three runs across the plate in the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 and had the bases loaded with two outs before Whitworth (16-8, 10-4) could shut the door on its four-run victory.
The day's opening tilt possessed a more back-and-forth characteristic until, perhaps forebodingly, the final inning.
The Missionaries broke on top quickly in the afternoon game as
Adrian Vela's lead-off single down the third-base line in the bottom of the first turned into a 1-0 lead on
Nick Johnson's sacrifice fly that brought Vela in from third.
The Pirates evened the score in the top of the fourth then slipped in front in their half of the fifth with another run, only to have Vela strike again from the lead-off position.
Vela beat out the throw on an infield single to kick off the fifth for Whitman, finally coming around to score the tying run on
Joseph Zimmer's RBI-single to right field.
In the game of Tag between the teams Whitworth moved in front again, this time with three runs in the top of the sixth. For once they held the Missionaries at bay in the bottom of one of the scoring innings but the cushion didn't last past the next frame.
Once again Vela spearheaded the inning, drawing a lead-off walk to spark Whitman's three-run seventh inning.
Anthony Lim followed Vela with a double down the left-field line, after which
Tristan Cates poked an RBI-single into left that allowed Vela to score. Johnson's single through the left side pushed Lim the final 90 feet for the second run and Johnson finished the scoring, crossing the plate on
Peter Carmichael's sacrifice fly to right field.
Whitworth was now 'it' and answered with a run in the top of the eighth then finally broke the game open with five more runs in their half of the ninth. Whitman wasn't able to answer though they did load the bases before Carson Blumenthal induced a game-ending ground out to seal the victory for his Pirates teammates.
Lim was 3-for-4 in the Game 1 loss while Vela, Cates and
Braden Hussey also registered a multi-hit game.
Henry Lin (0-2) took the loss on the mound for Whitman pitching 1 2-3 innings, allowing six runs on four hits and four walks while fanning one. Blumenthal (2-0) pitched the final three innings for Whitworth to earn the victory, handcuffing the Missionaries' bats to the tune of only four hits and one walk.
The nightcap under the lights was a game of opposites as Whitworth scored early and often only to watch Whitman rally with runs late and often.
The Pirates led 3-0 after three and 8-1 after six innings. Whitman began chipping away, though, in its half of the seventh.
Jasper Crusberg ignited the seventh with a lead-off single up the middle. He eventually scored on a fielders choice at-bat from Lim who reached when
Jonny Chow was eliminated at second on the play. Lim raced around the bases when the next batter,
Joseph Zimmer, found the gap in right-center field for a stand-up triple.
The real dagger for Whitman came in the top of the eighth when, as their own bats were finally heating up, Whitworth pushed its cushion back to five with two runs off reliever
Braden Hussey.
The never-say-die Missionaries rocked Whitworth reliever Brad Tiefenthaler for three runs before the Pirates coaches had seen enough and brought in Matthew Nelson after Tiefenthaler surrendered a two-RBI double to Johnson for Whitman's second and third runs of the inning. Nelson did his job and escaped the bases-loaded situation with the final two outs to quell Whitman's come back.
Starter
John Lyon (0-3) suffered the loss for Whitman, and reliever Tyler VonDracek (1-0) earned the win after coming in for Pirates starter Nick Scourey at the beginning of the fourth.
Whitman is on the road Saturday and Sunday for a three-game conference set at the University of Puget Sound, then returns home for the Easter weekend when it will entertain Lewis & Clark College for a Friday, April 3 doubleheader and Saturday, April 4 single outing at Borleske.
