PARKLAND, Wash. - (From PLU Sports Information office) Luis Tovar did it again. Whitworth rallied past Pacific Lutheran 8-7 in ten innings, capped by Tovar's RBI double, in the second game of a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader on Friday afternoon at the PLU baseball field. The NWC championship-contending Lutes won the opener 23-3.

Luis Tovar

The Pirates are now 6-22 overall and 4-18 in the NWC after potentially playing spoiler for the second straight weekend against a league-title contender. Last Sunday Tovar hit a walk off home run to knock off George Fox. PLU is now 19-8, 15-5.

GAME 1: PLU 23, Whitworth 3 - Complete box score
The Lutes erased Whitworth’s 2-0 first inning lead with nine runs of their own, and they kept adding on to win 23-3.

The Pirates took their 2-0 lead when Chad Flett hit his first home run of the season following a leadoff walk to Dan Belet. PLU starting pitcher Robert Bleecker allowed nothing more to the visitors through his five-inning stint. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out three to improve his pitching record to 6-0 this season. Alex Bodenhamer, making just his second appearance for the Lutes, finished the last four innings to pick up a save. He allowed one run on six hits while walking one and striking out six batters.

PLU batted through the lineup and scored seven of its nine first inning runs before an out was recorded. Ryan Aratani drove in the first run with a single, Geoff Gabler drew a bases loaded walk and Brandon Sales drove in the third run with another single. Corey Moore hit a single to left field to score one run and another came in when the ball was misplayed. Sammy Davis followed with a two-run single. Another run scored on a balk and Jordan Post drove in the ninth run of the frame with a base hit.

Pacific Lutheran added a run in the second, four in the third and another in the fourth to take a 15-2 lead before scoring seven more times in the sixth inning. Hansen hit his fourth homer of the season in the third inning and Matt Akridge hit his first home run, a three-run blast, in the sixth inning.

The Lutes added their final run in the bottom of the eighth inning before Whitworth finished the scoring with a run on Durant’s RBI single in the top of the ninth.

Post was 5-for-6 with three runs scored and five runs batted in to lead PLU’s 27-hit attack against four Whitworth pitchers. Aratani and Shively both were 3-for-3 before being pulled from the game, while Kris Hansen, Tyler Libadia, Gabler, Sales, Akridge and Davis all had a pair of hits. Both Gabler and Akridge finished with three RBI. A total of 18 different PLU players had at bats during the game.

Whitworth finished with nine hits, including two by Durant out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Starting pitcher Nathan Johnson allowed nine earned runs on seven hits and four walks in just 2/3 of an inning to drop to 1-4 this season.

Ben George

GAME 2: Whitworth 8, PLU 7 (10 inn.) - Complete box score
For the second time in as many Pirate wins, Luis Tovar came off of the bench to slam the game-winning hit. The loss was particularly tough for the Lutes, who held a 7-1 lead through six innings only to see the Pirates score three times in the seventh and three more in the ninth to tie it.

PLU scored a run in the first on Aratani’s RBI single, added another tally in the second on a pair of hits and a fielder’s choice, and then posted four runs in the fourth on Aratani’s three-run double and a sacrifice fly by Sales. The Lutes added another run in the bottom of the sixth on Gabler’s run-scoring single.

Prior to the seventh inning, the Pirates had scored their only run in the third on three hits, including Flett’s RBI single. They scored three times in the seventh on five hits against PLU starter Trey Watts. The first run scored on a wild pitch and the next two came in on JR Jarrell’s two-run single.

The Pirates tied the game with a three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning, making the most of three hits, a PLU error and three walks. Nick Combo hit a double to drive in one run, a second scored on a single by Landon Scott, and the tying run came in on a bases-loaded walk to pinch hitter Chris Bartenhagen.

As Whitworth creeped back into the game, reliever Ben George came into the game in the bottom of the seventh and proceeded to handcuff the Lutes through four scoreless innings of work. He ended up picking up the win, his first against one loss this season, by allowing only three hits and a walk while fanning three.

Whitworth scored the winning run in the top of the 10th inning when Kevin Valerio was hit by a pitch and scored on a long two-out double to left centerfield by Tovar against losing pitcher Nic Delicat, who is 0-1 this season. George hit a batter in the bottom of the 10th but shut down the Lutes to give Whitworth the victory.

The Pirates finished the game with 16 hits, including three each by Michael Takemura and Scott and two each by Valerio and Andrew Durant. The Lutes collected 15 hits, with Aratani getting four, Hansen and Ben Shively three each and Gabler a pair. Aratani drove in four of the Lutes’ seven runs.

The teams conclude their four-game Northwest Conference series on Saturday with a pair of seven-inning game starting at noon.