PARKLAND – Three consecutive hit batsmen drove in runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Pacific Lutheran claimed a come-from-behind 5-4 nonconference baseball win against Saint Martin's Thursday afternoon at PLU Field.

Pacific Lutheran improves to 16-9 overall with the win, while Saint Martin's falls to 8-21. The Lutes head to McMinnville, Ore., this weekend for a three-game Northwest Conference series against top-ranked Linfield. The series will match up the top two teams in the NWC standings, beginning with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. on Saturday and concluding with the final game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Jake Otness picked up the win for the Lutes, pitching five innings of one-run ball in relief of starter Collin Nilson. Otness allowed three hits and four walks while striking out six batters before handing the ball off to Trevor Lubking for the ninth. Lubking allowed one run on two hits in recording his first save in two years.

Stephen Mahnken took the loss for Saint Martin's, allowing three unearned runs in 0.2 innings pitched. He took over for the Saints in the bottom of the seventh holding a 3-2 lead and walked Nilson and Kory Vanderstaay to sandwich a throwing error that allowed Jacob Clements to reach base. With the bases loaded and two outs, Mahnken hit Alec Beal with a pitch to force in the tying run. Chase DeCoito took over on the mound for the Saints and hit the next two batters – Ben Welch and Tyler Thompson – to force two more runners in for the Lutes and give PLU a 5-3 lead.

The Saints threatened against Lubking in the ninth, narrowing the lead to one, but the PLU ace induced a groundout to third to wrap up the win for the Lutes. As a squad, the PLU lineup finished the game with six walks and six hit batsmen, while the PLU pitching staff issued eight walks. The Lutes stranded 14 runners on base in the game – leaving the bases loaded in three different innings – while the Saints left 11 runners on base.

Nicholas Hall drove in the Lutes' first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second, tying the game at 1-1 at the time after Saint Martin's scored in the top of the frame. The PLU second baseman added another RBI an inning later when he worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a run and give PLU a 2-1 lead.

That lead didn't last long, as Josh Sontag hit his first home run of the season to lead off the top of the fourth. The Saints reclaimed the lead at 3-2 in the sixth, loading the bases and bringing in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice groundout as the Lutes narrowly missed turning an inning-ending double-play.

Garrett Brown finished the day 2-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt and a walk. Maika'I Derouin reached base twice via walk, and Ben Welch was twice hit by pitches and added his first double of the year. Lucas Besel finished with two hits to lead Saint Martin's.