WALLA WALLA, Wash.—Whitman College used six multi-run innings to rack up 21 runs and snuffed out a late game one rally for Lewis & Clark College baseball, to earn a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Borleske Stadium. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Whitman 13, Lewis & Clark 9
Whitman 8, Lewis & Clark 2
(Lewis & Clark 6-8, Northwest Conference 2-6) 
(Whitman 11-7, NWC 2-4) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
After going down 13-4 in game one, Lewis & Clark scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning and brought the tying run into the on-deck circle with one out. Tanner Coddington induced a line out to shortstop and then struck on the next batter to close out the game one win. 
 
Sophomore Michael Aikawa led Lewis & Clark offensively with five hits in eight at-bats on Saturday. Senior Justin Cavagnaro tacked on four hits, three runs and two RBI. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Whitman hit four home runs to jump out to a big lead but Lewis & Clark battled back late in an eventual 13-9 loss. 
 
Cavagnaro and sophomore Bret Potter each finished the contest with three hits. Cavagnaro went 3-5 with two runs, two RBI and a pair of doubles. Potter added three hits and an RBI. 
 
Junior Joaquin Sandoval chipped in two hits, two runs, two RBI and a home run. Aikawa notched two hits and two RBI and junior Brandon Gonzaga registered two hits and two runs scored. 
 
Sophomore Owen Eisen took the loss after allowing 10 runs (nine earned) over the first 3.1 innings. Sophomore Shane Buchbinder was the first reliever out of the pen and limited Whitman to three hits and two runs over 2.2 innings. First year Sam Burchi struck out one and allowed a run over an inning. Senior Kyle Wilsie made his season debut and allowed a single in a shutout inning. 
 
Whitman scored the majority of their runs using the long ball. They took a 3-0 lead in the first on a three-run homer. The Blues added a solo homer in the second, a grand slam in the fourth and made it 12-4 in the sixth with a two-run home run. 
 
Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 3-1 in the top of the second. Cavagnaro doubled to right field with one out. Potter followed with a single to put runners at the corners and Aikawa plated Cavagnaro with an infield RBI single. 
 
The Pioneers added three runs in the fifth to make it 10-4. Gonzaga started the rally with a one-out single and Sandoval followed with a two-out, two-run homer to left field. Senior Will Heron and Cavagnaro kept the inning going with back-to-back singles and Potter made it 10-4 with an RBI single. Aikawa would walk to load the bases but Whitman ace Wyatt Adams induced a fly out to right field to strand three runners on base. 
 
Lewis & Clark entered the ninth inning trailing 13-4. Gonzaga opened the frame with a single and first year Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson and Sandoval worked walks to load the bases. Sophomore Dylan Lee added a pinch-hit walk to score Gonzaga. After a pitching change, Cavagnaro welcomed Coddington with a two-run double to score Shannon-Wilkerson and Sandoval. With one down, Aikawa singled to center field to score Lee and make it 13-8. Sophomore Connor Broschard provided a pinch-hit, infield single to cap off the scoring. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Whitman used two big innings and held Lewis & Clark to 2-10 hitting with runners in scoring position, to secure the series victory. 
 
Whitman starter Oliver Brown moved to 5-0 on the year after scattering seven hits, two walks and two runs over 6.2 innings pitched. Brown added five strikeouts. Reliever Carl Moland-Kovash held Lewis & Clark to two baserunners over the final 2.1 innings pitched. 
 
Aikawa moved up to the leadoff spot and finished 3-4 with an RBI. Heron was the only other Pioneer with multiple hits. He finished 2-3 with an RBI. 
 
Sophomore Caden Hodina took his first loss of the season. He went 6 innings and allowed five hits, three walks and seven runs (six earned). Hodina struck out a career-high seven batters. Sophomore Felix Gibeault gave up two hits, one walk and one run, over two innings or relief work. He added two strikeouts. 
 
The Blues scored three, two-out runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. 
 
Hodina would settle in from there and gave the Pioneers a chance to get back into the game. 
 
Lewis & Clark got on the board in the fourth. Cavagnaro opened the inning with a double and Heron followed with a double of his own. Whitman turned their first of two inning-ending double plays to get out of the jam. 
 
After allowing just two walks between the second and fifth innings, the hosts offense got back on track in the sixth against Hodina. Sam Mieszkowski-Lapping provided the big hit of the inning with a bases-clearing double to make it 6-1.
 
Lewis & Clark answered with a single run in the seventh. With two down, sophomore Eli Steinhaus walked and Gonzaga singled to end Brown's day. Aikawa greeted Moland-Kovash with an RBI single. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Cavagnaro continues to be red-hot during NWC play. He has hit safely in all eight games and leads Lewis & Clark with his .424 average, 14 hits, seven doubles and 10 RBI in conference games. 
• Hodina's seven strikeouts are the most by a Pioneers pitcher in a game this season. His previous career-high was five strikeouts against Pacific Lutheran on March 1. 
• Aikawa has now posted seven multiple-hit games this season. He has recorded 24 hits in 14 games as a sophomore, after finishing his first season with 27 hits in 35 games. 
• The Blues has now won five-straight games against the Pioneers. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will look to get back into the win column on Sunday, when they play Whitman at 1 p.m.