PARKLAND - After winning a pair of games on Saturday with late-inning rallies, Pacific Lutheran had defending Northwest Conference baseball champion Whitworth just where they wanted them on a cold, blustery Sunday afternoon - the Lutes were down by three runs going into their last at bat.

Unfortunately for the Lutes, their ninth inning rally netted just two runs, not the three needed for a tie, and Whitworth escaped the PLU baseball field with a 9-8 victory.

With the win, Whitworth improves to 9-8-1 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Pacific Lutheran is now 13-6 overall and 6-3 in the NWC.

With all-conference and preseason All-America outfielder Tyler Pfeffer going 4-for-4 with four runs batted in, Whitworth built a 9-6 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Taylor Isadore, who entered the game in the sixth inning in relief of starter and winner Nick Scourey, walked Nicholas Hall to open the frame, which brought reliever Michael Woodkey to the mound. A balk moved Hall to second base, and he came in moments later on a double by Cory Nelson, who was 4-for-5 for PLU.

Nelson moved to third on a ground out by Ryne Wilmes, and he came in on a single to center by Markus McClurkin. That brought Whitworth closer Jason Renner on in relief, and he retired the final two batters to record his third save and nail down the win for the Pirates.

There was plenty of offense in the game, and most of it came from Whitworth in the early going. The Pirates scored a run in the first on Pfeffer's RBI single, and they added another in the second on Nick Motsinger's base hit. They made it 5-0 with three more in the third, the key blow a three-run triple down the right field line by Danny Jordan.

The first three Whitworth runs were charged to PLU starter and loser Collin Nilson, who saw his record fall to 1-2 after he allowed six hits in 2 1/3 innings.

PLU got back into the game with four runs on two hits and Scourey's momentary wildness in the bottom of the fifth inning. Curtis Wildung hit a single to drive in the first run, and with the bases loaded Jacob Olsufka was hit by a pitch for the 10th time this season. Hall then drew a bases-loaded walk for the third run, and the fourth scored on Nelson's ground out.

Whitworth came right back to scored three in the top of the sixth, all of them coming with two out. PLU relief pitcher Chris Bishop hit a batter and walked two more to load the bases. Pfeffer followed with a two-run single that just eluded Olsufka's glove at first base, and Josh Davis followed with another single through the right side of the infield.

Now trailing 8-4, the Lutes scored twice in the sixth inning against Isadore. McClurkin drew a leadoff walk and scored on Alec Beal's opposite field double down the left field line. Beal advanced a base on a wild pitch and scored on Drew Oord's sacrifice fly.

The Pirates scored their final run in the top of the eighth on a leadoff walk to Erik Nikssarian, a sacrifice bunt, a ground out that moved Nikssarian to third, and Pfeffer's fourth hit and RBI of the game.

That led to PLU's final rally - the one that came up just short -  in the ninth inning.

Whitworth finished with 12 hits including Pfeffer's perfect 4-for-4 and Motsinger's perfect 3-for-3. Jordan added two hits and three RBI for the winners.

The Lutes had 11 hits including Nelson's 4-for-5 performance. Wildung and Hall both had a pair of safeties.

PLU returns to conference action next weekend with a three-game series at Puget Sound. The teams play a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday and a single nine-inning contest at noon on Sunday.

- PLU -