The Pioneer baseball team kicked off their spring break with a pair of losses, falling 5-3 (box score) and 11-3 (box score), to the Whitworth Pirates Friday afternoon at the Huston Sports Complex. Sami Morgan hit a home run for the Pioneers. Neal Finch drove in three runs.

In game one, the Pioneers broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fourth. Roland Greene (freshman, Encinitas, Calif.) hit a two-out single to left field. After Greene advanced to second on a ball off the glove of the Whitworth catcher, Neal Finch (junior, Boulder, Colo.) singled to score Greene, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. 

Whitworth ignited their offense in the next half inning. The Pioneers paid for a pair of walks with singles by the Pirates Dan Belet and Mitch Ramsay helping to score the recipients of those free passes to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

The Pirates added two more runs in the seventh. After getting on base via a walk and advancing to third, Matt Monahan stole home as part of a double steal with Jon Whiteside to make it a 4-1 game. Whiteside came around to score on an RBI single by Dan Ramsay to put Whtiworth up 5-1.

The Pioneers threatened in the bottom of the ninth. TJ Witkowski (sophomore, Tooele, Utah) singled to right to open the inning. Tucker Laurence (freshman, San Martin, Calif) followed with a single to left. After Roland Greene was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Neal Finch singled to drive in two runs. A sac bunt moved the runners to second and third, putting the tying run in scoring position with just one out. Whitworth's starter, Chad Flett, working on the complete game, struck out the final two batters of the game to give his team the 5-3 victory.

Flett improved to 4-1, earning the complete game victory, allowing two earned runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts. Dan Meehan (senior, Lake Oswego, Ore.) took the loss for the Pioneers, working 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits.

For the Pirates, Dan Belet was 3-5 with a run driven in. The Pioneers' Neal Finch was 2-4 driving in all three runs for the Pioneers. L&C's Roland Greene was 3-3 with two singles and a double.

In game two, Whitworth sent nine batters to the plate in the second inning, taking an early 5-0 lead on three extra-base hits. Jon Whiteside hit a triple with the bases loaded to drive in three of the five runs.

In the third inning, Whitworth added two more runs, with the Pirates stealing home for the second time that afternoon, this time sending Chad Flett while Mitch Nelson distracted the defense by getting in a run down between first and second.

After another Whitworth run scored in the top of the fifth to make it an 8-0 lead, the Pioneers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double off the bat of Sami Morgan (sophomore, San Mateo, Calif.) to make it an 8-1 game.

The Pirates scored three more in the sixth inning, the first on a single to right by Mitch Ramsey and the other two on a double by Chad Flett.

Trailing 11-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Pioneers' Sami Morgan smoked his first home run of the season over the left field fence to make it 11-3. The Pioneers failed to keep the rally going, falling by that same score.

The Pirates' Nathan Johnson saved several points off his ERA and improved to 2-1 on the season, working eight innings, allowing two runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out three. Alex St. Pierre (freshman, Laguna Hills, Calif.) took the loss for the Pioneers.

On the offensive side, Whitworth's Jon Whiteside was 3-4 with three runs driven in and a run scored. Dan Ramsey was 2-3, scoring three runs for the Pirates. Sami Morgan led the Pioneers with three hits (a single, double, and home run), driving in two of the Pioneers' three runs.

With the victories, the Pirates improve to 7-13 (6-8 NWC). The Pioneers fall to 4-14 (2-12 NWC).

The two teams wrap up the series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 11 am. This game time is one hour earlier than the original scheduled time to accomodate Whitworth's travel plans. The games will be carried live on the internet through sportsjuice.com.