SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth rallied from a 9-5 deficit to force extra innings in the second game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader against visiting Puget Sound, but that game was suspended by darkness heading to the top of the 14th frame. The Loggers took the opener 12-1,
Puget Sound improved to 15-13 overall and 9-9 in the NWC with the win, while the Pirates dropped to 6-24, 5-14. The teams will resume the suspended game on Sunday at 11:00 am and then follow with the regularly scheduled series finale. Whitworth will recognize its class of 2022 prior to the start of the finale.
Game 1: Puget Sound 12, Whitworth 1
Davis Franklin threw eight strong innings and Shane Himeda drove in three runs for the Loggers in the opener.
Jacob Ota doubled in the game's first run in the top of the first. The Loggers did not score again until the fourth, when they put four across. After Dylan Joyce hit an RBI double, Himeda drilled a three-run home run to left for a 5-0 lead.
Puget Sound added two more in the fifth, chasing Pirate starter Dylan McCardle.
Jaxsen Sweum hit his ninth home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth to get the Pirates on the board.
After adding a run in the seventh for an 8-1 lead, Puget Sound scored four more in the top of the ninth. Kyle Strash had a two-run double in that rally.
Franklin (2-3) dominated Whitworth in his strongest start of the season. He gave up one run on five hits and a walk in eight innings, with six strikeouts. Chris Pullen threw the ninth.
McCardle (1-3) allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and four walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out four. Dylan Owen threw 2.1 innings and gave up one run on four hits. Aidan Smith pitched a scoreless eighth, but was responsible for all four runs in the ninth. Boe Hesse got the final three outs.
Joyce and William Gross had three hits each for the Loggers.
Game 2: tied 10-10 headed to the top of the 14th
The Loggers led 9-4 before Whitworth tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. There were no runs scored after the Pirates tied the game 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh.
Relief pitcher Hunter Williams was stellar in his stint one the mound for the Bucs. He relieved Landon Shigeta with two runners on base and no outs in the top of the seventh and did not allow a run. He went seven innings and gave up only one hit with six strikeouts.
Joyce and Henry Baker combined for six shutout innings of relief for UPS. They each allowed one hit.
Sweum hit two more solo home runs in his first three plate appearances to reach 11 for the season. Hunter Dryden had a three-run shot in the second for the Bucs.
Makana Murshige had a three-run home run for Puget Sound in the third to tie the game. Aiden Sullivan gave the Loggers a 10-9 lead with a solo home run in the top of the sixth.
Josh Grimes started on the mound for Whitworth and allowed eight runs (five earned) on five hits and four walks in three innings. Jackson Dinkel started for Puget Sound and allowed four runs on six hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. Neither factors into the final decision.
