Walla Walla, Wash.  Lucas Thrun's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning secured a 7-6 win for Whitman in the opener, before the Blues dropped a 9-3 decision in the back half of Tuesday's doubleheader split against Swarthmore (Pa.) College in non-conference action at Borleske Stadium.

Whitman opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second inning of Game 1 as Alec Rainsford led off the inning with a single, and Kevin Nakamura followed with a double to put runners on second and third with no one out. Matthew Sox singled up the middle to score Rainsford, and then Anthony Nevoso singled through the left side to give the Blues an early 2-0 lead.

After Swarthmore scored once in the top of the third, Whitman countered in the bottom of the fourth as Nakamura led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a throwing error by James Rutledge on Sox's sacrifice bunt. Anthony Lim followed three hitters later with a two-run single to left field to score both Nevoso and Jerick Nomura to extend the Blues' lead to 5-1.

Swarthmore responded with two runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to tie the game, and then took the lead first the first time in the top of the eighth. The Garnet forged their advantaged when Rutledge hit a solo blast to left field to make the lead 6-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, Joseph Zimmer drew a leadoff walk against Garnet reliever Adam Schauer, but Rainsford's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a fielder's choice to retire Zimmer for the first out.

Brett Williams followed, and singled up the middle to advance pinch runner Jake Wishart to third to put runners at the corners. That brought Thrun to the plate, who pulled the 0-2 pitch down the right field line past the outstretched glove of Garnet first basemen Cole Beeker, scoring Wishart and Williams to deliver Whitman's first walk-off win of the season.

Game 2 began with a pitching duel as the opening five innings produced only one run, a solo homerun from Charles Levitt off Whitman starter Brendan Henry.

Outside of the solo blast, Henry was great in his first start of the year. Normally the closer, Henry pitched five innings in earning the no-decision for the Blues, giving up only the one hit while striking out four.

And in the beginning Henry was almost a one-man show fanning four, earning a pair of assists and picking up an unassisted putout over the initial nine outs of the game.

Unfortunately for Henry, Swarthmore starter Owen Webb was equally as good. Webb held Whitman scoreless through five innings, surrendering four hits and striking out five.

In the sixth inning, things began to change. After the Garnet extended the lead to 2-0 in the top of the frame, Whitman was finally able to get to Webb, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth that was keyed by a two-run single by John Lyon that gave the Blues the 3-2 lead.

It slipped away from Whitman after that, as Swarthmore scored one in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Michael Sepe to tie the game at three.

Then in the eighth, Kenji Yoshi led off the inning by hitting a solo shot to left field to regain the lead 4-3. Yoshi would also end the inning with a groundout to Williams, but by then the Garnet had scored five more times on just two hits but benefitted from two walks and an error by the Blues in expanding to their six-run margin of victory.

Lyon had a particularly impressive day, as he started the opener on the mound and pitched five innings, giving up three runs on four hits while walking one and striking out two.

Whitman will return to Northwest Conference action on Saturday as they hit the road and play George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.