WALLA WALLA – Pacific Lutheran bounced back from a 4-1 defeat in the opener and survived a ninth-inning Whitman rally to take the second game 6-5 as the 21st-ranked Lutes split a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader against the Missionaries Saturday afternoon at Borleske Stadium.

Pacific Lutheran finishes the day at 16-7 overall and 9-5 in conference play, while Whitman concluded the doubleheader at 4-13 overall and 3-8 in the NWC. The teams will play the rubber game of the series Sunday, with first pitch set for 12 p.m.

The Lutes led the second game 6-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, but Whitman singled and walked its way to four runs and still had the bases loaded with only one out. After shutting down the Missionaries in the eighth inning, Ty Donahou allowed two singles and a walk in the top of the ninth before giving way to AJ Konopaski. Whitman greeted Konopaski with three soft singles, and the Lute closer walked in a run to make it 6-5 with the tying run on third and Whitman's potential winning run on second. But Konopaski induced a shallow pop up to center and struck out Tristan Cates for the final out to clinch his NWC-leading seventh save of the year.

Reigning Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week Garrett Brown fell one strikeout shy of his second straight 10-K start, limiting Whitman to one run on seven hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings. Tyler Thompson had three hits in the second game, including a double, and a pair of runs batted in. He also had a hit in the opener, giving him four for the day. Connor Cantu hit his first career home run in the opener and totaled three hits between the two games to go with two runs and two RBIs, while Ben Welch had a single in the opener and a triple in the second game.

Whitman scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the first, as Adrian Vela led off with a double and Paul Heywood brought him home with a single. The Lutes tied it up in the fifth with a run and took the lead with another in the sixth. Welch tripled to center with one out in the fifth and scored on a Cantu single to right center, and Oord led off the top of the sixth with a double to left and scored on Thompson's single through the left side.

PLU stretched its lead with four runs in the top of the eighth. Cantu opened with a walk and advanced to second on Oord's sacrifice bunt. A strikeout left PLU with two outs, but the next four Lutes reached base safely. Whitman intentionally walked Collin Nilson to put two on for Thompson, who singled through the left side to score Cantu and left runners at second and third after the throw home. A throwing error by Whitman allowed both Thompson and Nilson to score, and Tanner Williams reached base on a bunt single. Tanner Bogart pinch ran and stole second, putting himself in scoring position to come in on Bo Pearson's single to right.

Vela and Heywood posted two games apiece in each game as Whitman totaled 22 hits between the two contests. Nick Johnson took the loss for the Missionaries after allowing two runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings, while Steven Ainsworth allowed four PLU runs in two innings of action. Robert Maislin picked up his second win of the season in the opener, throwing eight innings of one-run ball before Henry Lin came in to pitch the ninth for his third save of the year.

Chris Bishop took the loss for PLU in the opener, falling to 3-2 this season after allowing two earned runs in seven innings to go with seven strikeouts and one walk. Cantu's home run down the left field line in the top of the sixth proved to be the only run of the game for the Lutes.

Whitman scored twice in the third and twice in the fifth to claim the win in the opener. Vela's first double of the day scored the Missionaries' first run in the third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly following a wild pitch. Whitman made two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth before rallying after a third-strike passed ball kept the inning going. A bases-loaded walk forced in a run and a single by Joseph Zimmer made it 4-1 with the bases still loaded before Bishop closed out the inning with a fly ball to center.