PORTLAND, Ore. - The Whitman College baseball team was hoping to build off of yesterday's win Sunday as the team traveled to Portland to square off against Lewis and Clark College. Whitman was unable to collect a win in today's double-header, falling to the Pios 12-6 in the first game and 8-5 in the second.
"We've dug a hole for ourselves early," Head coach
Brian Kitamura said about the team's early season woes. "That has forced us to become one dimensional and play catch up the whole way. It changes the whole dynamic of the game."
Though the team did not finish up the road trip the way it hoped, the Whits will return to home with their season's first win along with a strong offensive performance from Sunday. The Missionaries jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the day;
Jake Wishart doubled down the left field line, scoring
Tyler Lewis and
Milo Mincin.
Anthony Lim followed with one of his two hits in the game and scored Wishart to put Whitman (1-7) up 3-0.
Unfortunately, Lewis and Clark (3-3) answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning before grabbing a 6-3 lead in the fourth. Whitman added a run in the fifth and sixth innings to cut the Pio lead to one heading into the seventh.
Opportunity knocked in the seventh with runners on first and second, but the visiting Missionaries were unable to even the score as both were left stranded. Lewis and Clark added two security runs in the bottom of the eighth and made things difficult for Whitman heading into the final inning.
Joseph Zimmer doubled with one out in the ninth and Mincin moved him to third on a sacrifice fly, but that is where Zimmer would end as Whitman fell short in the afternoon session.
The opening game of the day had a rough start for the Whits. Lewis and Clark scored five runs in the opening inning and followed with two runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings. Whitman's bats came alive in the fifth inning as the team scored four runs and then added two more in the seventh, but the Pios' pitching threw shutout innings in the eighth and ninth, halting the comeback attempt.
Alex Behrman,
Adrian Vela and
Lucas Thrun all collected multiple hits in the contest. Vela scored twice and brought in a run during the fifth inning outburst. He also added two more RBIs in the seventh with a two-run home run, while Thrun went 2-for-4 with an RBI double.
When asked about how the team can change things around, Kitamura said he's seeing improvements everyday, "We have a very young team this year. Many of our guys have been put right into the mix and are improving every day. We're making huge strides defensively and becoming more and more consistent in our approach. A commitment to the process will be important for our players to see the results they want to see."
Whitman will play its home opener next weekend when the team hosts Willamette University for a double-header both Saturday and Sunday.
