WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Two long losing streaks came to an end on Saturday as visiting Whitworth University split a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader with Whitman College at Borleske Stadium. The host Missionaries (3-35 overall, 1-29 NWC) ended a 33-game losing streak with an 8-5 win over the Pirates in the opener, ensuring they don't finish with a winless conference season. Whitworth (12-26, 11-19) broke its own 11-game losing streak with a 7-5 win in the nightcap.

Monahan hit his first home run of 2008

Whitman 8, Whitworth 5 (box score)

Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Whitman rallied for six runs in the seventh and went on to win 8-5. Joe Rodhouse (1-5) went all nine innings to earn his first win of the season on the mound. He allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and five walks.

Chad Flett (4-6), who had shut out the Missionaries on five hits through six innings, suffered the loss after giving up the six run rally in the seventh. He allowed six runs on 13 hits in seven innings, with four strikeouts and one walk.

Mitch Ramsey's sacrifice fly in the third inning gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Matt Monahan hit a two run home run in the fourth, his first of the season, to tack on two more runs. The Pirates finished the three-run fourth with a bases-loaded walk.

Whitman opened the seventh inning with seven straight hits on the way to their six-run rally. Micah Babbit had a two-run single in the rally. The Missionaries added two more runs in the eighth off of Whitworth reliever Collin Gibbs. Billy Rigsby's sacrifice fly in the ninth pulled the Pirates within 8-5, but Rodhouse got a strikeout with two runners on base to end the game.

Whitman had lost 33 games in a row, including 28 straight NWC losses, since opening the season by taking two of three games at Occidental.

Dan Ramsey drove in a pair of runs in the win

Whitworth 7, Whitman 5 (box score)

Whitworth broke a 4-4 tie with a three run rally in the top of the eighth inning then held on to win 7-5 to end the Bucs' 11 game losing streak.

Whitworth grabbed a 4-1 lead in the top of the third behind an RBI single by Mitch Ramsey and a two run double from Dan Ramsey. An error allowed Dan Ramsey to score the final run of the inning.

But Whitman got one back in the fourth and tied the game in the seventh when they loaded the bases and then scored on a hit batter and a walk.

Whitworth returned the favor in the eighth. After Rigsby singled home Dan Ramsey, Monahan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for one RBI, then Jon Whiteside picked up another free RBI with a bases-loaded walk.

Whitman got one run back in the eighth before Gibbs came back in to pitch and ended the rally. He also threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his second save of the season. John Hauck got the final out of the seventh inning in relief of starter Nathan Johnson to improve to 3-1 this season. Johnson went 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Both teams will conclude their seasons with Sunday's doubleheader (two seven inning games), which begins at Noon.