PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Lewis & Clark Pioneers capitalized on mistakes by the Whitman Blues to earn a split of their season-opening, Northwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Huston Sports Complex.

A home run by Jack Thomson and four quality innings of relief from Jordan Gonzalez set the stage for the Pios to score runs off two dropped third strikes and a passed ball in a 9-7 win during the finale, which was scheduled for seven innings. Freshman Jakob Ghammachi hit a two-RBI triple in his collegiate debut.

Lewis & Clark lost the first game 12-1 in seven innings. Sammy Benbow had the Pios lone RBI on a second-inning single.

Game 2 | Key Moments

After falling behind 5-0 through two innings, Lewis & Clark rallied back in the middle innings. Thomson's homer, the seventh of his career, opened the Pios scoring in the third.

Passed balls and wild pitches became frequent for the Blues beginning in the fourth. Tyler Gannon, who led off with a single, eventually moved to third, in part, because of a wild pitch. Whitman starter Mateus Conaway struck out Pios catcher Sam Helms, but the third strike was dropped, Helms reached first and Gannon scored. After Travis Craven replaced Conaway with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Gannon also reached on a dropped third strike and two runs scored. Ghammachi followed that with his first career extra-base hit to give the Pios a 7-5 lead on seven unanswered runs.

In the sixth and with Thomson on base, Sammy Benbow hit an RBI single and David Schmidt walked. Another passed ball during Dylan Moore's at-bat scored another run, and Lewis & Clark moved ahead 9-5. 

"I told the guys after the first game that the true measure of a person/team is how they respond when things don't go their way," Pios head coach Matt Kosderka said. "I was very proud to see the guys hang in there and get rewarded in the end."

Gonzalez replaced starter Kris Wuelfing. Both had three strikeouts. Moore entered the game in the seventh with the tying run on deck and earned the save without yielding a hit.

Game 1 | Key Moments

Benbow singled in the Pioneers only run in the bottom of the second as the Pios lost 12-1.

Lewis & Clark starter Dominic Monozon gave up three earned runs on eight hits as the Pioneers committed four errors. The Blues (4-6, 1-1 NWC) hit three home runs.

"We certainly looked like a team that hadn't played a game in a year in game one," Kosderka said. "They didn't make any mistakes and did a great job of making us pay for all of ours."

Looking Ahead

The Pioneers (1-1, 1-1 NWC) host Whitman on Sunday for another twinbill.