WALLA WALLA, Wash.  Whitman racked up 13 hits, including three from Nick Johnson, Monday afternoon at chilly Borleske Stadium, but it wasn't enough in a 9-5 loss to visiting George Fox University in Northwest Conference baseball action.

The Blues (10-11, 5-6 NWC) rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth with three runs only to see the Bruins (7-13, 6-9) score six over the next two innings to wrest back the advantage.

A Whitman rally in the bottom of the ninth produced a run but it fell short with runners left on first and second base.

Pushing base runners around the circuit was troublesome all day -- for both teams. The Blues stranded 14 while Fox left 10 out on the bases.

Part of the difference on the scoreboard may well have been the eight runners in scoring position left on by Whitman, compared to only three for the Bruins.

Johnson lined out to right field in his first two at bats but found green grass the rest of the game. He singled through the left side in a scoreless fifth, led off the seventh with a single into center field but was left at third, then led off the attempted ninth-inning rally with a scorching double just inside the third-base bag.

After that last hit he moved to third on a balk, then came in to score on pinch-hitter John Lyon's single into center.

Jake Wishart collected a pair of hits and also reached as a hit batter in the second. The center fielder singles and scored in Whitman's three-run sixth, and his single through the right side kept the inning alive in the ninth.

Lead-off batter Brett Williams also had a solid day at the plate, singling twice, reaching on an error and eventually scoring in the sixth, and inducing a walk in the eighth.

The big knock of the day came off Lucas Thrun's bat in the sixth, a half-inning the Blues had entered trailing 3-1.

Tyler Lewis' one-out walk and a Wishart single put runners at first and second. Williams reached on an error by the first baseman, which allowed Lewis to score from second and for Wishart to move to third while Williams scooted to second on a throw home that failed to nail Lewis.

Thrun stepped in next and laced a two-RBI double into the gap in left-center to bring in both Wishart and Williams for Whitman's first lead of the game, 4-3.

Fox would score twice in the top of the seventh, though, then add four more in the eighth to create some breathing room.

Starter Eric Ma was saddled with a no-decision after pitching six innings and allowing three runs on five hits. Jimmy Smiley (2-2) came in to start the seventh and was charged with five runs in taking the loss.

Matt Voelzke (1-1) , the starting shortstop for the Bruins, came on in relief with one out in the sixth as the fifth George Fox pitcher, and was the beneficiary of his team's final six runs to earn the win on the mound.

Whitman has little time to recover from the Sunday-Monday three-game set, as it welcomes Whitworth University to Borleske for a Wednesday doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.