HAPPY VALLEY, Ariz. - Pacific Lutheran had a strong finish to its appearance at the Arizona Diamond Classic on Sunday, beating Whittier, 7-3, to finish with three wins and one loss in the Division III baseball tournament.

With their third straight victory the Lutes improved to 4-2 for the season, while Whittier is now 1-3.

Once again the young PLU pitching staff had a strong outing in helping the Lutes to the victory. Collin Nilson went five innings to pick up the victory and improve his season record to 1-1. AJ Konopaski came on in relief and didn't allow a run in his three full innings of work before turning the game over to Chris Bishop, who finished it up in the ninth inning for the Lutes.

Whittier took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning before Jacob Olsufka and Dominick Courcy had run-scoring hits to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Nicholas Hall put the Lutes ahead with a RBI hit in the bottom of the fourth, but Whittier tied it in the top of the inning with its final run.

Alec Beal continued his hot hitting at the tournament with a run-scoring double in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Lutes a 4-3 advantage and also allowing Nilson to pick up the pitching victory.

Whittier got the potential tying run on third base in the top of the sixth against Nilson, but Konopaski entered the game and recorded a strikeout to get the Lutes out of the inning. The score was still tied 4-3 in the top of the eighth when Whittier got a runner at third with one out, but Konopaski wiggled out of the jam.

The Lutes promptly scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-3 lead, giving Bishop plenty to work with. The sophomore closer didn't need the extra runs, however, and the Lutes won their third in a row.

PLU returns to action on Feb. 22-24 when it participates in the CCC-NWC Challenge. The Lutes play twice both days, including a 2 p.m. game against Corban and a 5 p.m. contest against Linfield, both in McMinnville, Ore., on Feb. 22. The CCC-NWC Challenge pits teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Northwest Conference against each other, with all teams getting four games.

- PLU -