WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Whitman ace Blaine Mercado pitched a
complete-game three-hitter as the host Missionaries stunned the
visiting Puget Sound Loggers, 2-1, in a Northwest Conference
baseball game on Sunday afternoon at Borleske Stadium in Walla
Walla, Wash.
After holding the Loggers hitless through the first six innings,
Mercado took care of business with the bat in the bottom of the
sixth, using an RBI ground-out to score Erik Korsmo, who had made
it to third after the ball hit it a divot in the outfield.
Whitman then used a suicide squeeze down the first base line
to get their second run across as they held the 2-0 lead after six.
The Loggers broke up the no-hit attempt in the top of the
seventh as Chaz Kramer (Boulder, Colo./Silver Creek) hit a two-out
double down the left field line. The Loggers added to the
drama in the top of the ninth as Doug Cox (Kailua, Hawai'i/Kalaheo)
led off the inning with a double down the left field line and then
moved to third on a fly out by Kramer.
After getting caught in a rundown between first and second,
pinch runner Nick Cherniske (Angel Fire, N.M./Col. of Santa Fe)
kept the pickle in play enough to allow Cox to make it home as the
Loggers pulled within one run but Mercado was able to get a
ground-out to end the game as Whitman earned the win, 2-1.
The Loggers will hit the road one more time, traveling down to
St. Martin's on Wednesday, before making their long-awaited
home debut next weekend when they play host to Whitworth in a
three-game Northwest Conference series.
