WALLA WALLA - Pacific Lutheran gave pitcher Max Beatty some late inning support to win the first game, but Whitman grabbed the early lead in the nightcap and refused to give it up on Saturday as the teams split a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader at Borleske Stadium.

As a result of the split, the Lutes are now 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Northwest Conference. Whitman is 6-8 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

Game One - PLU 9, Whitman 5

Beatty continued to dominate during this, his junior season, allowing just one run and one hit in seven innings of work. He walked just one and struck out 10 to improve his season record to 4-1. It took the PLU offense until the later innings, however, to give Beatty the run support that he needed.

The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the second on a home run by Cameron Young, and through the first six innings pitcher Dakota Matherly made that run stand up. He limited the Lutes to just five hits while walking three and striking out three.

PLU finally broke loose against Whitman relievers Will Thompson and Tyler Grisdale. It tallied four runs on a hit batter, a walk and just two hits, though one was Carson McCord's timely bases-loaded triple. McCord scored the fourth run on a passed ball.

The Lutes added five runs in the eighth inning, making the most of three hits and a pair of Whitman errors. Dominick Courcy had a two-run single, McCord drew a bases-loaded walk, and Curtis Wildung hit a sacrifice fly during the rally.

Whitman scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning before AJ Konopaski entered the game and stopped the rally.

McCord, Daniel Altchech and Clay Trushinsky all had two of PLU's 10 hits.

Game Two - Whitman 6, PLU 4

The Missionaries jumped on PLU starting pitcher Chris Bishop for three runs on three hits and two errors in the bottom of the first inning and they were never headed.

PLU got a run back in the top of the fourth inning when McCord was hit by a pitch and then scored on a double by Wildung, but Whitman put together two hits, a hit batter and a fielder's choice to get that run back in the bottom of the inning.

Whitman added another run in the fifth to make the score 5-1 before the Lutes scored twice in the seventh on a two-run double by Altchech. Again, the Missionaries responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh on a homer by Kyle Moyes, and PLU closed the scoring with another tally in the top of the eighth on a RBI single by Jordan Coleman.

Sophomore Spencer Hobson picked up the victory, limiting the Lutes to one run on just two hits in six innings of work. He struck out six batters and walked two. Despite giving up three runs in three innings, Robert Maislin earned his third save of the season. Bishop took the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits in three innings. Cory Nelson pitched the final five innings, giving up two runs on four hits.

Wildung collected three of Pacific Lutheran's five hits in the game. Moyes was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI for Whitman.

The teams conclude their three-game Northwest Conference series at noon tomorrow with a single nine-inning game.

- PLU -