TACOMA, Wash. -
Nik Greb crushed a grand slam in the opener,
Halen Otte belted two homeruns in the nightcap and the Whitman College baseball team swept a doubleheader from Pacific Lutheran in Northwest Conference action on Saturday. The Blues won the opener 7-4 and the nightcap 7-2, and completed a three-game sweep that lifted them to the top of the NWC standings
Whitman 7 PLU 4 (Game 1)
Greb's grand slam was the first homerun of his collegiate career and highlighted a third inning that saw Whitman score all seven of its runs. Greb's rountripper was followed by base hits from AJ Romero and Nathan Wilson, both who eventually scored to pad the Whitman lead.
That would be all the production needed for Mateus Conaway who struggled early but rallied to throw six strong innings and allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Russell Peterson dazzled in relief of Conaway, allowing one hit and striking out four in three scoreless innings for his first save.
Three Whitman players posted multi-hit performances. Greb (3 H, 1 R, 4 RBI) and Beck Maguire (3 H, 1 R) both recorded three hits and Wilson batted 2-4 with a run scored.Â
A handful of Lutes had solid performances as well with Delisle leading the way with three hits and an RBI. Burke and Pieper both posted two hits and an RBI with Burke adding a run scored.
Whitman 7 PLU 2 (Game 2)
The nightcap saw Otte (2 H, 2 R, 2 RBI) belt his fifth and sixth homeruns of the season. Brandon Ting (1 H, 1 R, 2 RBI) got in on the long ball action with his own two-run shot in the sixth, the same inning Otte went yard for the second time.
Barton and Beechum both had a hit for the Lutes with Barton adding an RBI and Beechum a run scored.Â
Jack Hostetler (2-1) was stellar on the mound for the Blues. He struck out a season-high 11 batters in seven complete innings and allowed only one hit on two runs.
Crawly tossed five complete innings for the Lutes but did not factor in the decision. He gave up two runs on five hits with a strikeout.
Despite the power displayed by the Blues, the result was at hand after Barton drove home a run in the fifth to tie the game. Whitman responded with a big sixth inning that saw Ting and Otte homer in back-to-back at bats.
Christian Rivera made PLU's comeback attempt even tougher when he drove home a pair of runs in the ninth to push the lead to five runs.
Before returning to conference play, the Blues will host Eastern Oregon on Tuesday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Â
#GoWhitman
