PORTLAND, Ore.  The outing was a doubleheader, but the important game was the opener on Sunday at the Huston Sports Complex.

Visiting Whitman played two against host Lewis & Clark College, with the second game a make-up of an early-season non-conference wash-out.

Now, the opener? That one counted for marbles as the Blues and Pioneers were playing a Northwest Conference baseball game, one that could help or hinder Whitman's fourth-place spot in the league standings.

And with growing regularity, when the games are really counting for something, Whitman seems to find a way.

The noon-time opener on Sunday was no different as the Blues rallied from behind with late runs to secure a 5-3 win. Late heroics fell a run short in the non-conference nightcap as the Pios earned a split with a 10-9 win.

The Pios jumped on Whitman Game 1 starter Travis Craven for a run in the bottom of the first, but the first-year pitcher was backed by two runs in the top of the sixth as his Blues took the lead.

Lucas Thrun worked L&C starter Drake Gilliland for a lead-off walk, then moved up when Gilliland walked the dangerous (hint, hint) Joseph Zimmer.

Gilliland earned the first out of the inning with a fielder's choice that eliminated Zimmer but left runners on the corners. The following batter, Jake Wishart, also grounded into a fielder's choice play but the Pios were unable to record an out, allowing Thrun to score, Adrian Vela to move from first to second, and put Wishart at first with just one out.

Gilliland picked up out number two on an infield liner but Tyler Lewis followed with an RBI-single into left-center field that brought home Vela for the go-ahead run before Gilliland could end the inning with another infield line-out.

The Pios got to Craven again, however, responding with two runs in the bottom half of the frame to wrest back the lead, 3-2, and end Craven's outing.

Gilliland sailed through a 1-2-3 seventh, which brought Zimmer to the plate to lead off the eighth.

Told you.

Zimmer pounded a Gilliland offering out of the park for the tying run, ending the L&C starter's day.

Chandler Vieira took over on the mound and was greeted with an infield single by Vela.

Wishart sacrificed Vela over to second before Vieira added another base runner with a one-out walk to David Johnson.

Lewis wasn't able to come through this time, but Alex Behrman did, singling up the middle to plate Vela for the go-ahead run.

The inning would end but the Blues were back in front.

Another run in the ninth, on an RBI-double from Zimmer, added to the Whitman cushion, which Patrick Stanton, Garrett Atkinson and Milo Mincin held firm with in relief of Craven.

Atkinson (1-1) was the pitcher of record when the Blues took the lead in the eighth, earning his first win of the season. Mincin threw the final 1 2/3s innings to earn his second save on the year.

The victory provides Whitman with a two-game lead over both Whitworth University and George Fox University, tied for fifth place as the three teams battle for the final spot in the conference's four-team postseason tournament.

Should Whitman win one of its three remaining games against league-leader Linfield College, it would eliminate Whitworth after having swept the three-game series from the Pirates. But Fox owns the tie-breaker over the Blues, taking  the season series two games to one, so Whitman would need to win two from Linfield should Fox earn a three-game sweep over its final opponent, the University of Puget Sound.

Game 2 on Sunday didn't count within the league standings, but it certainly was played as if it did.

The Pios broke out front with two runs in the second and added three more in the third, only to have the Blues even the score with a five-run fourth. Nick Johnson and Anthony Nevoso collected two and one RBIs, respectively, in the frame.

Whitman added a sixth run in the top of the sixth but L&C answered with two in the bottom of the inning, then padded its lead with three in the eighth.

Regardless of the NWC meaning, or not, of the game, Whitman doesn't back down from a deficit and their final at bat exemplified what's becoming a growing strength -- two-out rallies.

With runners at first and second with two-outs Court Osborn singled into left where the Pio leftfielder mishandled the ball allowing Behrman to trot home and Kyle Reisman to head into third.

John Lyon popped a pinch-hit RBI single into left to score Reisman and Zimmer followed with an RBI-single to left pushing Osborn home.

Vieira had come on in relief for the Pios at the start of the eighth and was suffering through the ninth, but he was finally able to breathe easy after a Nick Johnson screaming liner found the glove of the L&C first baseman to end the threat and allow the home team to escape with the narrow victory.

For the day Zimmer amassed six hits, including the four-bagger and two-bagger in Game 1, and collected three RBIs.

Whitman closes out its regular season schedule at home beginning Friday with a single game against Linfield at Borleske Stadium. The teams play a doubleheader on Saturday to conclude the series.