WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Whitman College baseball team entered Day 2 of the NWC Tournament with a winners bracket matchup versus Willamette and excellent odds to advance to Sunday's championship.. The day did not go as hoped, however, as the Blues fell to the Bearcats 6-3 then were upended by Whitworth this evening 9-6 on Saturday at Borleske Stadium.
The Blues closed the season at 26-17 after winning their first regular season title since 1952 and hosting the NWC Tournament for the first time in program history. Whitworth advances to Sunday's championship against Willamette.
Whitworth 9 Whitman 6
Looking to respond from a difficult loss to Willamette, Sam Meiszkowski-Lapping did just that for the Blues in the second inning. With a pair of runners on, he crushed a homerun over the left centerfield fence. Beck Maguire later drove in Nathan Wilson with a base hit and Whitman led 4-0 through two innings.
The Pirates worked themselves back into the game with a pair of runs one-half inning later, but the real damage was done when the Bucs scored five in the fourth all with two outs. Mateus Conaway quickly retired his first two hitters, but back-to-back hits followed by a series of Whitman miscues turned the game upside down and Whitworth left the inning up 7-4.
Whitman battled back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Garrett Runyan and Brandon Ting both drove in runs. The Blues had a chance to score more and take the lead, but Huntsman got the final two outs, both with Blues in scoring position, to end the threat.
Whitworth had a response of its own, scoring runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Whitman had a chance for game-tying or game-winning runs but came up empty with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Willamette 6 Whitman 3
Drew Baskin provided the fireworks for Willamette who took down the Blues 6-3 in game two of the day.
Julien Hernandez was tagged with the loss after giving up the three-run homer to Baskin.
In typical Hernandez fashion, the right hander ran into trouble in the first two innings but settled in and held the Willamette order largely in check. He retired nine of the next 11 hitters as he continued to keep the Bearcats off the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, the Blues scored a pair of runs, the first coming on a solo homer from Ting in the second inning and AJ Romero scampering home on a Jack Bickerton infield hit one inning later.
The Bearcats turned the tide in the eighth with Hernandez still on the mound. Jeff Hoffman ripped an RBI single through the infield to put his team on the board before Baskin deposited his three-run bomb over the left centerfield wall. Wyatt Thames later stole home as Willamette extended its lead to 5-2.
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