SPOKANE, Wash. - The Blues hoped to close its first Northwest Conference road series with bang but instead fell in shocking fashion, giving up a walkoff homerun in the 10th inning and falling to Whitworth 4-3 in the teams' series finale on Sunday afternoon at Merkel Field.

Tristan Kalnins (0-1) was tagged with the loss despite delivering a solid two innings out of the bullpen. He set the Bucs down in order in the ninth and retired the first two batters of the 10th. Ryan Gross (3 H, 2 R, 2 RBI) then belted a homerun, his second of the game, by the right field wall for the walk off hit and completed the series sweep for Whitworth.

Matt Sox (2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI) started and worked five complete innings on the mound for the Blues (4-9, 3-3 NWC). He gave up two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts before being lifted for Colin Anderson to start the sixth inning.

There was no shortage of homeruns on the ball game with five hit between the two teams, all solo shots. David Johnson (1 H, 1 R, 1 RBI) delivered the game's first rountripper when his solo shot tied the score in the second inning. Gross responded two innings later with his first of two homeruns then Sox, who stayed in the game as a designated hitter, tied up the game with dinger in the sixth inning. 

Jerick Nomura (2 H, 1 RBI)  gave the Blues a late inning lead with his run-scoring hit in the seventh. Brock Williams reached base then moved into scoring position when he stole second. Nomura smacked a Yamane pitch through the infield to score Williams and put his team up 3-2.

The lead was short-lived as Luke Bruno (1 H, 1 R, 2 RBI) went yard in the bottom half of the seventh. The eighth and ninth innings went by without consequence before Gross's walk off in the 10th.

Whitman takes a break from league action to play a three-game set this weekend at La Verne. The series opens with a single game on Friday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m.