PARKLAND, Wash. - (From PLU Sports Information office) On a day when visiting Whitworth outhit Pacific Lutheran 22-15, the Lutes were able to stay alive in the chase for the Northwest Conference baseball title by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader from the Pirates 11-7 and 6-5. Both games were scheduled for seven innings, but the second went nine.

With the victories, the Lutes improved to 21-8 overall and, more importantly, improved their conference record to 17-5. George Fox leads the circuit with a 19-3 record while Linfield sits in second at 19-5, two games ahead of PLU in the win column. Whitworth, meanwhile, is 6-24 overall and 4-20 in the conference.

Nick Combo

GAME 1: PLU 11, Whitworth 7 - Complete box score
In the opener, the Pirates took a 2-0 lead by collecting five hits against PLU starting pitcher Ryan Frost. Landon Scott opened the frame with a single, he scored on a double by Taylor McMahon, and McMahon came in on a base hit by Andrew Durant. Kevin Valerio and Nick Combo both had hits to load the bases, but Frost got the final out to end that inning.

The Pirates added another run in the fourth on three hits, including a double by Dan Belet and singles by Valerio and JR Jarrell, but again they left the bases loaded, three of the 13 runners they would leave stranded in the game.

The Lutes finally broke through for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth, and it was a rally that came about despite only two hits. Until that inning, Peter Birdwell had been dancing with danger, walking two batters in each of the first two innings. His control continued to elude him as he walked the bases loaded before Stephen Baranowski came on in relief. Baranowski proceeded to walk Ben Shively and Tosh Takayoshi to force in two runs, and he was replaced by Liam O’Brien, who hit Kris Hansen to tie the game at 3-3. After a force out at the plate, Geoff Gabler reached on a fielder’s choice to give the Lutes a 4-3 lead, and another run scored on a throwing error. Up to that point, the Lutes still were without a hit. Ryan Aratani finally delivered PLU’s first safety, rolling a ground ball through the left side to drive in another run, and Brandon Sales capped the inning with a RBI double to left field.

Whitworth came back with two runs in the fifth inning, one scoring on a wild pitch and another on Combo’s RBI single, but the Lutes tallied four times on four hits in the sixth inning to put the game away. Sales hit a two-run double and Sammy Davis added a two-run single in the inning.

The Pirates scored twice in the seventh inning on a sacrifice flies by Combo and Jarrell, but Nic Delikat closed out the game and the win for the Lutes. PLU won despite managing only six hits compared to Whitworth’s 14. Valerio had three hits and Combo, Jarrell, Scott, Belet and McMahon all had a pair for the Pirates. Frost, making his first start, labored through four innings but got his first victory of the season, and Baranowski took the loss. For PLU, Aratani and Sales both had a pair of hits and Sales drove in three runs.

Dan Belet

GAME 2: PLU 6, Whitworth 5 (9 inn.) - Complete box score
In the second game, Whitworth scored single runs in each of the first three innings against PLU starter Scott Wall. Michael Takemura scored on the back end of a double steal in the first, and Valerio drove in the second run with a dribbler for a single in the second. In the third, Scott hit a double and came in on Mitch Nelson’s double. After that, Wall settled down and kept the Pirates at bay.

PLU tied it with two runs in the third and one in the fourth. In the third, Josh Takayoshi collected his second of three hits, stole second and eventually scored on Jordan Post’s ground out. Gabler drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Ben Shively hit a two-out RBI single to knot the score at 3-3.

The game went into extra innings and both teams scored a pair of runs in the eighth. Belet had the big hit for Whitworth, a two-run single through the left side of the infield. For the Lutes, Corey Moore hit a sacrifice fly before Sammy Davis drove in the tying run with a two-out infield single. The game went to a ninth inning only because Whitworth shortstop Durant made a diving stop of Shively’s grounder in the hole before getting the force out at second base.

In the eighth, Whitworth loaded the bases with two outs before winning pitcher Paul DiPietro coaxed a ground out to end the threat. The Lutes got the winning run without benefit of a hit. Hansen was hit by a pitch and Post drew a walk, and Hansen raced in to score when Durant misplayed Gabler’s hot smash.

DiPietro improved his record to 2-0 with one inning of shutout relief, while Nathan Johnson took the loss in relief of Chad Flett.

Whitworth finished with eight hits, including two by Jarrell, and the Lutes had nine hits, including three by Takayoshi and two by Hansen.

The Pirates will host Lewis-Clark State on Tuesday at 3:30 on Merkel Field. Whitworth will not play again until the following Tuesday (April 21) at Central Washington.