PARKLAND – Whitman scored runs in each of the final four innings as the Pirates ended 19th-ranked Pacific Lutheran's hopes of a series sweep by handing the Lutes a 10-4 Northwest Conference defeat Saturday afternoon at PLU Field.

For the fourth straight weekend since NWC play began, the Lutes take two of three to win the series as PLU ends the weekend with an 8-4 league record and a 14-6 overall mark. Whitworth improves to 11-8 overall and 5-4 in the NWC. The Lutes host cross-town rival Puget Sound Wednesday in a nonconference matchup, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.

Pacific Lutheran's pitching staff, and especially its bullpen, had been one of its biggest strengths through the first half of the season, but Whitworth broke through to score six earned runs in four innings against PLU relievers. Kyle Rossman allowed a two-run home run to the second batter of the game before settling down to not allow another run over five innings. He did not factor into the decision, as the teams were tied 2-2 when he left the game going into the top of the sixth.

Dalton Carter began the game with a walk, and Jeremy Druffel followed with the home run in the top of the first, marking the first homer the PLU pitching staff has allowed this season. PLU got one back in the bottom of the second inning, as Tyler Thompson and Landon Packard hit consecutive doubles to open the inning. The Lutes tied it up in the bottom of the fifth, manufacturing a run after Casey Dawes led off with a walk and advanced on consecutive groundouts before coming in to score on a passed ball.

That tie did not last long, as Whitworth scored three runs in the top of fifth inning. The Pirates chased Cory Nelson after two outs and two runs allowed and scored another against Jake Otness before Ty Donahou came in to record the final out and end the inning. Three walks and a throwing error helped the Pirates extend the inning, as Whitworth tallied only one hit in the frame and scored a pair of unearned runs.

Whitworth added two more in the top of the seventh. Donahou recorded two quick outs before the Pirates pieced together three hits and a walk to stretch their lead to 7-2. The Lutes took advantage of some similar struggles by the Pirates in the bottom of the frame, using a Whitworth error, a balk, two walks and a wild pitch to plate two unearned runs without a hit.

The Pirates scored three more in the final two innings to put the game away. A two-out walk followed by a double scored one in the eighth, and a pair of doubles, a single and a sacrifice fly gave Whitworth its final two runs in the ninth.

Cory Mack earned his first win of the season after allowing four runs – with only one earned – in 6.2 innings for Whitworth, while Carson Blumenthal picked up his third save of the season after recording the final seven outs without allowing a hit. Nelson took the loss for PLU, his second of the season. The two teams combined for four balks on a windy and rainy day.

Packard led PLU with a pair of doubles and a run batted in as the Lutes totaled four hits in the game. Whitworth finished with 13 hits after PLU limited the Pirates to eight total hits in Saturday's doubleheader sweep. Carter totaled three hits, as did Nick Motsinger, with Carter scoring and driving in a pair of runs and Motsinger scoring three times. Druffel finished with two hits, including his homer, and a pair of walks, while Brett Moser tallied a pair of hits and two runs batted in.