PORTLAND, Ore. - (From L&C Sports Information Office) Whitworth University used a combination of timely hitting and solid pitching to sweep a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader from host Lewis & Clark College by scores of 5-3 and 11-3 at the Huston Sports Complex.

Game 1 - Box Score

In game one, the Pioneers broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fourth. Roland Greene hit a two-out single to left field. After Greene advanced to second on a ball off the glove of the Whitworth catcher, Neal Finch singled to score Greene, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.

Whitworth ignited their offense in the next half inning. The Pioneers paid for a pair of walks with singles by the Pirates' Dan Belet and Mitch Ramsay helping to score the recipients of those free passes to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

The Pirates added two more runs in the seventh. After getting on base via a walk and advancing to third, Matt Monahan stole home as part of a double steal with Jon Whiteside to make it a 4-1 game. Whiteside came around to score on an RBI single by Dan Ramsay to put Whtiworth up 5-1.

The Pioneers threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Neal Finch singled to drive in two runs with nobody out. A sac bunt moved runners to second and third, putting the tying run in scoring position. Whitworth starter Chad Flett, working on the complete game, struck out the final two batters of the game to give his team the 5-3 victory.

Flett improved to 4-1, earning the complete game victory, allowing two earned runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts. Dan Meehan took the loss for the Pioneers, working 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits.

Belet went 3-5 at the plate with a run driven in to lead the Pirates. The Pioneers' Finch was 2-4 driving in all three runs.

Game 2 - Box Score

Whitworth sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning, taking an early 5-0 lead on three extra-base hits. Jon Whiteside hit a triple with the bases loaded to drive in three of the five runs.

Whitworth added two more runs in the third inning, with the Pirates stealing home for the second time that afternoon, this time sending Chad Flett while Mitch Nelson distracted the defense by getting in a run down between first and second.

After another Whitworth run scored in the top of the fifth to make it an 8-0 lead, the Pioneers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double off the bat of Sami Morgan to make it an 8-1 game.

The Pirates scored three more in the sixth inning, the first on a single to right by Mitch Ramsey and the other two on a double by Flett.

Trailing 11-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Pioneers' Sami Morgan smoked his first home run of the season over the left field fence to make it 11-3.

The Pirates' Nathan Johnson shaved several points off his ERA and improved to 2-1 on the season, working eight innings, allowing two runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out three. Alex St. Pierre took the loss for the Pioneers.

On the offensive side, Whitworth's Whiteside was 3-4 with three runs driven in and a run scored. Dan Ramsey was 2-3, scoring three runs for the Pirates. Morgan led the Pioneers with three hits (a single, double, and home run), driving in two of the Pioneers' three runs.

With the victories, the Pirates improve to 7-13 (6-8 NWC). The Pioneers fall to 4-14 (2-12 NWC).

The two teams wrap up the series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 11 am. This game time is one hour earlier than the original scheduled time to accomodate Whitworth's travel plans.