SPOKANE, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team (12-17, 6-11 NWC) were unable to overcome late deficit's on the road against the Whitworth Pirates (21-11, 12-8 NWC), dropping the pair of games, 5-3 and 11-7.
 
Freshman Alex Lopez started game one on the bump for the Lutes, where a throwing error and a sacrifice fly would put Whitworth up 1-0 after one. Junior third-baseman Carson Burke knotted the game up a 1-1 with a solo shot in the top of the second, the Lutes second hit in as many innings. Whitworth answered back, executing small ball, scoring one on a sacrifice bunt to take the lead back at 2-1.
 
Burke returned to the plate again in the top of the fourth, this time inheriting Brody Phinney on first base. Burke went yard for the second time in as many at bats, giving the Lutes their first lead of the game; 3-2. Once again, the Pirates responded to Burke's pressure, hitting a solo shot of their own, tying the game up at 3-3.
 
Both pitchers would scatter a pair of hits, managing a runner in scoring position, but the score remained 3-3 through seven-innings. Whitworth opened the eighth with a single, effectively ending the outing for Lopez, as Kamryn Swartz came in relief. Swartz sat down the first hitter he faced, but the second drove it over the left field wall to put the Pirates back on top, 5-3.
 
Whitworth retired the Lutes in order to end the game, giving them a 5-3 win in the opening game of the series in Spokane.
 
Matthew Sherwood got the start in game two on Friday afternoon, sitting down the Pirates in order to begin the game. Whitworth took an early lead in the second after a home run snuck over the right field wall.
 
Hayden Kaiser notched the Lutes first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, but was stranded after consecutive ground outs. Whitworth added another run on in the home half of the third with a two-out single. The Pirates ended Sherwood's outing in the following inning, as they tacked on four runs, taking a 7-0 lead over the Lutes.
 
PLU got on the board in the top of the sixth, as Rutger Youch opened the inning with a one-out double down the left-field line. Ethan Keintz drove the Lutes outfielder in, making it 7-1. Whitworth made it 8-1, scoring on a wild pitch in the home half of the inning. A slew of pinch hitters for Whitworth helped the Pirates climb out to an 11-1 lead after the eighth.
 
Phinney opened the ninth with a double, followed by an Aaron Barber walk. After Kaiser was hit by a pitch, Braeden Lundberg drove in two with his single. Youch ripped a three-run home run with two-outs to make it 11-6. Burke followed in his path, going back-to-back for his third home run of the day, but the Lutes late push fell short; giving Whitworth the 11-7 win in game two.
 
"Game one was a battle. We had several chances to put up some runs and just couldn't hit with runners on scoring position." Said Head Coach Nolan Soete after Friday's games.
 
"We pitched well in game one, but game two was rough overall. We need to play well tomorrow in all three phases of the game because Whitworth is a good squad."
 
Burke was a highlight for the Lutes, going 4-8 on Friday with a pair of home runs on game one, and another in game two; accounting for all three runs scored in the opener. Youch went 4-9 at the top of the lineup as well, driving in three total runs with his three doubles.
 
Baseball wraps up the series tomorrow afternoon in Spokane, taking on the Pirates in the series finale beginning at 1 p.m.
 
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