WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Whitman College squared off against the University of Puget Sound Friday afternoon in Northwest Conference play. The weather was questionable early, but cleared up before the end of the first game. Unfortunately, the good weather did not bring good fortune for the Missionaries. Whitman dropped both games on the opening day of the two day, three-game series. The Loggers took game one, 15-6 and outslugged the Whits, 16-9 in game two.

In an eventful second game, both UPS and Whitman's bats were hot. The two teams combined for 11 runs in the first three innings of play. The Loggers added to their 6-5 lead in the fourth inning, collecting two runs that put the Whits in a three-run hole. The fifth inning saw much of the same, with Puget Sound scoring three to extend its lead to 11-5. The Missionaries, however, responded by pulling to within two runs over the next two innings.

After Paul Heywood reached on a base hit to center field and advanced to second on a walk, Alex Behrman scored Heywood with two outs, cutting into the Logger lead. The sixth inning brought life back to the Whit dugout. Both Lucas Thrun and Joseph Zimmer reached base to start the inning and Nick Johnson cleared the bases with a double to left center. Before the inning concluded, Johnson came across the plate bringing the Whits back to within striking distance at 11-9.

UPS regained its composure in the seventh and gave itself some breathing room with a four-run inning. Whitman was unable to respond in the bottom half of the seventh or eighth innings as the game entered the final inning with Puget Sound leading 15-9.

The Loggers added another security run in the ninth, pushing their lead to 16-9 where it stood throughout as the Whits were unable to get on the board in the ninth.

The Missionaries exploded for 12 hits in the late game. Thrun and Johnson were both 2-for-4 with two runs and Heywood had a remarkable afternoon, collecting three hits, scoring twice and driving in an RBI. Zimmer, as expected continued his strong offensive performance, contributing a hit, two runs and drawing two walks.

In the day's first game, Whitman fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. In the top of the second, UPS grabbed its third run of the game and a 3-2 lead from the Missionaries. Whitman answered in the third with two runs, erasing the one-run deficit. Entering the fifth, the Whits clung to a 4-3 lead, but the Loggers erupted for 12 runs in a four inning stretch.

At the end of the eighth inning, Whitman found itself in a hole, trailing Puget Sound 15-5. Although the Missionaries were unable climb back into the game, they were able to end the game on a positive note. Alec Rainsford doubled down the left field line, scoring Zimmer who singled earlier in the inning.

Whitman collected nine hits during game one, two coming from the bat of Zimmer and another two coming from Anthony Lim. Jake Wishart was 1-for-3 in the game and collected a run, while fellow first year teammate, Thrun crossed the plate twice. Zimmer also had two runs to go along with his two hits.

Henry Lin got the start for the Whits throwing 4.1 solid innings, surrendering just five hits and collecting three strikeouts before being relieved in the fifth by Matt Hill.

Whitman will look to bounce back in the final game of the series tomorrow afternoon at Borleske Stadium. The game is set to begin at 12 p.m. PST.