By: Katelyn McLean
Student Writer

SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth took the lead early in game one of its first home doubleheader of the season and then fought back in a high-scoring nightcap to sweep visiting Linfield in a pair of Northwest Conference baseball games on Saturday at Merkel Field.

The Pirates (4-9 overall, 3-3 NWC) won the opener 3-1 and took a see-saw battle with the Wildcats (2-13, 1-7) 10-7 in the nightcap.

Whitworth and Linfield will complete the series with two more games on Sunday, beginning at 11:00 am.

Game One—Whitworth 3, Linfield 1
Dylan Bishop's strong pitching and Luke Bruno's three runs-batted-in propelled Whitworth to a victory in game one.

Joe Howell singled to lead off the first for Whitworth, stole second and moved to third on a ground out.  He scored on Bruno's sacrifice fly.

Bruno's two-run homer in the third, his second of the season, gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

Linfield got a run back in the ninth on a single from Reid Sturn that scored Garrett Moen with one out. But Hunter Dryden got the final two outs to claim his first save.

Bishop (1-1) pitched seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks with one strikeout. Dryden allowed one run on one hit and four walks over the final two innings.

Starter Andrew Del Biaggio took the loss for Linfield.  He gave up seven hits and all three runs in five innings.

Game two—Whitworth 10, Linfield 7
A grand slam by Jaxen Sweum and Aidan Morrison's go-ahead triple lifted Whitworth over Linfield in the seven-inning nightcap.

Sweum's grand slam gave the Pirates a 4-0 in the first.

The Pirates added to their lead in the second inning when Howell scored on a wild pitch and Dawson Warner scored from second after the throw from the catcher got away.

Linfield's offense found its groove in the third inning, with a solo home-run from Ryan Kamp and a sacrifice fly from Levi Horner-Villa that scored Reid Sturn. A Tanner Jaques double scored Mike Lavigne, and Tanner Earhardt hit a two-run home run to cut Whitworth's lead to 6-5.

The Wildcats tied the score 6-6 in the fourth inning with an RBI single by Sturn that scored Jacob Campos.  They took the lead in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Earhardt that scored Jaques.

Whitworth scored four runs for the second time of the game in fifth. Sweum drew a bases-loaded walk and then Morrison cleared the bases with his triple.

Josh Grimes (2-0) earned the win in relief for Whitworth after he allowed one run on three hits in four innings.  He struck out four Wildcats.

Colton Meyer (0-5) allowed four runs on two hits in 2.2 innings of relief for Linfield.