PARKLAND – Chris Bishop's one-hit gem carried Pacific Lutheran to a 2-1 series-opening win as the 23rd-ranked Lutes and the visiting Pacific Boxers split a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at PLU Field.

Late-game drama again played a role for the Lutes, as PLU scored the winning run on a walkoff sacrifice fly by Curtis Wildung. Pacific's bats came alive in the second game, as the Boxers compiled 19 hits to earn the double-header split with a 13-6 win. Pacific Lutheran (9-4 overall, 3-2 NWC) and Pacific (2-6 overall, 1-4 NWC) will conclude the three-game series with the rubber game Sunday at 12 p.m.

Bishop held Pacific hitless for the first four innings, and PLU took got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Brett Johnson reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Welch and reached third on an infield groundout by Curtis Wildung. He came in to score on a two-out single to center by Jacob Clements.

Pacific picked up its first hit off Bishop when Tanner Mansell singled to lead off the top of the fifth. He advanced to second on a Lute error, and Mike Thomson reached on a fielder's choice to put runners at first and second. A groundout advanced the two runners, and another PLU fielding error allowed Mansell to score the unearned run and tie the score.

Bishop and Pacific pitcher Kyle Treadway locked into a pitchers' duel at that point, as Bishop did not allow a hit the rest of the way and Treadway threw four hitless innings between the fifth and the eighth. A pair of walks to Clements and Drew Oord gave the Lutes a chance to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the eighth, but Tyler Thompson grounded out to end the inning.

The Lutes came through in the bottom of the ninth. Landon Packard's infield single put the winning run on first to lead off the frame, and Bo Pearson came in as a pinch runner. Connor Cantu sacrificed Pearson to second, and Johnson hit a single through the right side just hard enough that Pearson had to hold up at third. Treadway intentionally walked Welch to load the bases with one out for Wildung.

PLU's senior catcher homered in his previous ninth-inning at bat to score what proved to be the game-winning run in Sunday's win over Linfield. He came through again on Saturday, lining the ball out to center field for a sacrifice fly to score Pearson from third with the walk-off run.

Bishop finished the day with only one hit, two walks and one unearned run allowed in nine innings pitched with six strikeouts on only 100 pitches. Treadway went the distance for Pacific, allowing one earned run – two total – on seven hits in 8.2 innings.

While the starters from Saturday's opener combined for nearly 18 innings pitched in dueling complete games, the starters from the second game combined to go 3.2 innings. Colin McCusker allowed five earned runs in 2.1 innings for Pacific, while Kort Skoda allowed three earned runs in 1.1 innings on the mound.

Pacific scored two runs in the first inning, one in the second and three in the third to get on the board early. The Lutes matched the Boxers' second-inning scoring output as Packard opened the inning with a double and Collin Nilson singled to send him to third before he scored on a sacrifice fly by Thompson. PLU then pulled back to within one in the bottom of the third with four runs. Welch worked a full-count walk to lead off and advanced to second on a groundout. Clements hit an infield single, and Packard walked on four straight balls to load the bases.

Nilson's second single of the game scored PLU's first run of the inning and kept the bases loaded for Thompson to step up and drive a 1-1 ball to deep center field for a two-run double. Kit Banko brought Nilson home with a sacrifice fly as PLU made it 6-5 after three innings.

That score remained until the top of the sixth, when Pacific strung eight hits together – including two triples and a double – to break through for seven runs. The Boxers maintained the 13-5 score until the final inning, as PLU picked up one run in the bottom of the ninth when a single by Lee Larson scored Tanner Williams.

Nilson and Thompson each finished the second game with a pair of hits, as Thompson tallied three runs batted in and Packard scored two runs. Packard totaled four hits on the day, with three in the first game and one more in the second, while Clements picked up two hits in the opener and added another in the second game. Mansell had the Boxers' lone hit in the opener and tallied three more in the second game, while Donnie Bradley added three hits in the second game and Tyler Brown and JT Francies each drove in three runs.

Joey Angyus picked up the win for Pacific with three shutout innings, while Tyler Kotchik earned his second save of the year by pitching the final 3.2 innings for the Boxers. Cory Nelson threw 1.2 innings for the Lutes, allowing three runs, while Jake Otness gave up six runs in 2.1 innings with five strikeouts before Ty Donahou came in to throw the final 3.2 innings while allowing only one run.