CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Pacific Lutheran offense erupted for 14 runs as the Lutes defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14-3 to wrap up the spring break baseball trip Saturday afternoon at Arce Field.

With its second straight win in as many days against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pacific Lutheran improves to 15-9 overall and finishes the week with a 2-2 record on the trip. After scoring only two combined runs in losses to Pomona-Pitzer and California Lutheran, the Lutes completed the trip with a combined 22 runs in a pair of wins against the Stags.

Chris Bishop threw five strong innings to earn his third win of the year and improve his record to 3-3. Bishop allowed two earned runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts before Cory Nelson came in to throw three shutout innings and Jake Otness closed it out in the ninth.

Tyler Thompson was again one of the leaders for the Lutes on offense, tallying a team-best three hits and driving in a pair of runs. Ben Welch and Daniel Altchech each finished with two hits and two runs scored, and Kory Vanderstaay went 2-for-5 with a double, one run batted in and a run scored. Curtis Wildung also doubled, walked twice and scored two runs. And Collin Nilson had the game's biggest hit when he cranked a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.

The Lutes jumped on the board with three runs in the top of the second inning. Nilson walked with one out and Wildung doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third. Altchech singled through the right side to bring in Nilson, and a wild pitch allowed Wildung to score. Altchech came around on Vanderstaay's double to left center to make it 3-0 early.

After a pair of doubles helped the Stags score two in the bottom of the second, the Lutes broke the game open with six runs in the top of the fourth. Tanner Bogart was hit by a pitch and Vanderstaay singled through the left side. A wild pitch advanced both runners, and Alec Beal came through with a single to score one and put runners on the corners. An infield single by Welch brought in another run, and Thompson singled to load the bases. After a Drew Oord sacrifice fly, Nilson hit his team-leading third homer of the season to make it 9-2 PLU.

Claremont put one more run on the board in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of a PLU error to score an unearned run. From that point the Lutes just kept playing add-on. Welch and Thompson singled in the top of the fifth, and Welch came in to score on a wild pitch to put the Lutes up 10-3. In the following frame, Wildung and Bogart walked and Vanderstaay reached on an error to load the bases. Beal hit a fly ball to right to bring in Wildung on the sacrifice fly, and PLU took an 11-3 lead.

The Lutes' final three runs came in the top of the eighth. Altchech opened the inning with a walk, and Nicholas Hall was hit by a pitch. One out later Casey Dawes walked to load the bases, and with two outs Thompson singled through the left side to drive in two. Dawes scored a few moments later on a passed ball.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action Tuesday, when the Lutes will host Saint Martin's in a nonconference matchup at 4 p.m. From there the Lutes head down to McMinnville, Ore., for a key three-game Northwest Conference series against top-ranked Linfield on April 5 and 6.