SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitman College baseball team rallied from an early five-run hole and even took a late lead, but it ultimately came in a 16-11 defeat to Whitworth as the Bucs completed a Northwest Conference doubleheader sweep of the Blues, Saturday at Merkel Field.

Eric Ma started and pitched five complete innings. He gave up eight earned runs on nine hits before Dexter Aichele came on in relief to start the sixth inning. Aichele (0-2) would get tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in two innings.

Matthew Sox had a monster performance for Whitman (4-8, 3-2 NWC), batting 3-5 with two runs, four RBI and a double and a homerun. Kevin Nakamura homered in going 2-4 with two runs and two RBI, and Leo Rivera added two hits, one run and two RBI.

Connor Grytdal (3-1) worked a scoreless ninth to earn the win for the Bucs (9-3, 2-0 NWC). Cody Simmons led the way with four hits, three runs, six RBI and two doubles. Dawson Warner added three hits, two runs and two RBI.

The Bucs wasted no time in getting to Ma. After issuing a pair of walks and a hit to open the game, Ma gave up a two-run double to Jaxsen Sweum for the first runs of the game. Liam Fitzpatrick scored on a Simmons single on the next at bat and Whitworth tacked on another two runs before the inning ended to make it a 5-0 lead heading into Whitman's half of the second.

David Johnson and Teague Conder got the Blues back in the game in the second. Johnson doubled to score Rivera from first, then was driven home by a Conder single to make it a 5-2 ball game through one and one-half innings. Even though Whitman would add two more in the third, Whitworth put up three more in the second and another in the third to lead by seven runs. 

The lead carried into the fifth inning when the Blues came storming back. After Sox doubled in a run, Nakamura crushed his two-run homer to cut the deficit to four runs. Whitworth scored in the sixth but the Blues completed their rally with a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings. This time it was Sox's time to go yard, drilling two-run homer to make it a one-run ball game. The eighth inning saw RBI singles from Brett Williams and Sox as the Blues took their first lead at 11-10.

The lead - and momentum - would be short-lived. Whitworth put six runs on the board in the bottom eighth to put the game away. Simmons' three-run double early in the inning proved to be the dagger as the Blues went quietly in the ninth to suffer the doubleheader sweep.

Whitman will look to exit the series on a high note as the two teams meet on Sunday for the series finale. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.
 

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