CLAREMONT, Calif. – Nick Motsinger finished the day with three doubles to lead visiting Whitworth to a split of a non-conference baseball doubleheader at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday afternoon.  The Pirates took the opener 11-9 before the Sagehens won the nightcap 6-5.  

Whitworth is now 2-1 and Pomona-Pitzer is 1-2 after the Bucs took two of three in the series. The Pirates will conclude the four-game trip to California with a single game at Occidental on Sunday.

Game 1 – Whitworth 11, Pomona-Pitzer 9
Motsinger doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored twice as the Pirates held off the Sagehens in Saturday's opener. Each team scored four runs in the ninth inning.

After falling behind by three runs in the second inning, the Pirates tied the game with three in the top of the third.  Motsinger got the Bucs on the board with his first RBI double of the game.  Tyler Pfeffer followed with a two-run single.

The game was still tied 4-4 when Whitworth got three runs in the top of the seventh.  Motsinger scored on a wild pitch and Joshua Davis followed with an RBI single. 

Leading 7-5 heading to the ninth, the Pirates appeared to put the game away with four runs.  Paul Miller's infield single brought home the first run and Thomas Wakem scored on a two-out error at shortstop that extended the inning.  Motsinger made Pomona-Pitzer pay for the mistake with a two-run double to right-center field.

But the Sagehens had one final rally, scoring four runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth.  Travis Bowers singled in a run, then scored on a two-run double by Jackson Badger.  Jason Renner struck out Michael Caldwell with the tying runs on base to end the game.

Dan Scheibe started on the mound for Whitworth, but only went two innings after allowing three runs on three hits.  Nick Scourey earned the win with five innings of relief.  He allowed only one run on five hits.  Taylor Isadore and Renner combined to throw the final two innings for the Bucs.

Robert Weller went 4.2 innings as the starter for Pomona-Pitzer, allowing four runs on four hits.  But it was Greg Astor who took the hard-luck loss after giving up only one run on one hit in one inning of relief.

Game 2 – Pomona-Pitzer 6, Whitworth 5
Carson Blumenthal threw five strong innings for the Pirates, but the Sagehens managed to rally and salvage the final game of the series.

Pfeffer went 3-4 with two RBIs to lead the Bucs at the plate. His single in the top of the first drove in the game's initial run.  He added a solo home run in the top of the sixth that gave Whitworth a 3-1 lead.  It was his first homer of the season.

Meanwhile Blumenthal gave up a run in the first inning and then settled down shutout the Sagehens over the next four frames.  He gave up only the one run on four hits in five full innings.

But Pomona-Pitzer rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Michael Caldwell, who then hit a grand slam.

After the Sagehens added one more run in the seventh to go up 6-3, Whitworth put up single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.  Gerhard Muelheims scored on a throwing error in the eighth and Thomas Wakem added an unearned run in the ninth.

Hector Zavala followed Blumenthal on the mound and took the loss.  Blake Thoren gave up only one hit over the final 1.2 innings for the Bucs.

David Gerics piched seven innings for the win for Pomona-Pitzer, giving up three runs on ten hits.  Kevin Kannappan tossed the final two innings for a save.