TACOMA, Wash. - The Whitman College baseball team kicked off Northwest Conference play with a doubleheader split against Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon. The Blues won the opener 6-2 before falling in the nightcap 7-4.
Game 1
The opener saw Garrett Runyan (2 H, 2 R, 5 RBI) homer twice, the second a three-run bomb that blew the game open for the Blues. The Loggers got on the board in the seventh to cut the Whitman lead to 3-1, but one inning later he belted a pitch over the left field wall to put his team up by five runs and essentially close the door.
Meanwhile, Julien Hernandez was cruising through the Logger order and finished with another fine outing. He equaled his career high of 14 strikeouts set on opening day of this season in eight complete innings while allowing two runs on six hits.
The middle of the order provided the punch for the Blues. Teague Conder had a monster game with three hits and two runs, and Joaquin Hines and AJ Romero joined Runyan all posting two hits.Â
Jack Bickerton (1 H, 1 RBI) opened the game with a run-scoring hit, then two innings later Runyan delivered a two-run homer to put Whitman up 3-0.
Murashige, who drove home a run in the eighth inning, led a trio of Loggers with two hits.
Game 2
Wyatt Adams (1-1) suffered the loss in the nightcap after working three and two-thirds innings. He allowed six runs on five hits while striking out four. Harvey (3-0) tossed five complete scoreless innings for the win.
UPS did most of their damage in the fourth inning when it put five runs on the board. Huante provided the big hit of the inning with his two-run double. He later scored on a Joyce RBI base hit.
The Blues mounted a late comeback with three runs in the ninth inning, but it proved to be not enough. Beck Maguire drove home a run before Nate Korahais delivered a two-run single to whittle the lead to three runs. That would be the final runs for the Blues as UPS held on for the win.
Whitman and UPS close out the series on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
Â
#GoWhitman
