By: Ryan Lackey

SPOKANE, Wash. --- Jacob Woehler's first home run of the season and a dogged performance from starter Ian Buckles came up a little short, as the Bruins dropped a heartbreaker to Whitworth in the first half Saturday afternoon's doubleheader.

Game 1

Despite taking the loss to drop his record to 2-3, Buckles put in a scrappy, efficient start, scattering eight hits over six innings and surrendering two runs, just one of which was earned.

Woehler's long solo shot came in the second inning to open the scoring, 1-0. Neither team could manage much offensively besides a few scratch singles until the bottom of the fourth, when Thomas Wakem led off with a towering home run to even the score at 1-1.

After the Bruins went down in order, Whitworth took the lead their next turn at bat. Skyler Lookabill reached on an error by shortstop Clay Mott to start the rally and stole second. With two outs, Wakem collected his second RBI of the game, lining a double into the left-center gap to plate Lookabill and make the final score, 2-1.

The Bruins nearly tied the score in the seventh, but they couldn't bring Eli Skiles home from third with two outs. In the eighth, they came close again, but Louthan died on second.

Woehler, Andrew Reichenbach, and Ansel Webster all went 1-3 for the Bruins, and reliever Miachael Hirko turned in two innings of one-hit ball.

The loss drops the Bruins to 6-8 on the season and 4-3 in the Northwest Conference. They will look to even the series with Whitworth in the second game of the day's doubleheader.

Game 2

After suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Whitworth, the Bruins got their vengeance in game two, scoring eight runs in the second inning en-route to a 16-5 victory. The offensive explosion was team-wide; six Bruins had multiple hits.

Whitworth jumped out to an early lead in the first, tagging Bruin starter Sean Eberhardt with a quick run on a long solo homer from Joshua David. The Bruins got that run back promptly in the second on Tyler Hamilton's RBI groundout, and then cracked the game wide open in the third.

Brandon Wileman led off the long inning with a hit-by-pitch, and Gabe Louthan reached on an error by third baseman Nick Motsinger. Three-hitter Zach Rapacz curled a double down the left-field line to score both, and Jake Thran dropped a deep triple over the center fielder' head to score Rapacz and make the score 4-1. Far from exhausted, the Bruins kept adding: Mason Dunning singled in Thran, and Hamilton and Kadyn Nannini both worked walks to load the bases for Wileman, in his second at-bat of the inning. This time, Wileman roped a double to right to clear the bases and up the score to 8-1. Louthan followed with a double of his own, scoring Wileman. Rapacz bounced a two-hopper to second to finally end the inning, with the score at a daunting 9-1.

Whitworth got one back in the bottom half of the third, when Thomas Wakem dropped a single down the left field line.

Kadyn Nannini, though, refused to entertain thoughts of a Whitworth comeback. With Ansel Webster, Thran, and Hamilton loading the bases, Nannini caught hold of a fastball from Alex Robichaux and drilled it over the left-center fence. His grand slam – his second home run of the season – made the score 13-2.

Whitworth, to their credit, refused to hand the Bruins the game. They managed thee runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, as Joshua Davis doubled home all three and narrowed the score to 13-5.

The Bruins put the game out of reach with single runs in the fifth, sixth, and eighth, with Blake Stassi and Nathan Higa both working an inning each in relief.

Wileman finished 2-4 with three RBI and three runs. Louthan went 3-5, and Rapacz, 3-6. Designated hitter Ansel Webster 2-3 with a pair of runs scored, and Jake Thran went 4-6 and scored three times. Nannini went 2-4, with all four of his RBIs coming on his grand slam.

Eberhardt had a serviceable start, giving up five runs on only eight hits over his seven innings of work. The win lifts his record to 2-1.

The Bruins improve to 7-8 on the year and 5-3 in conference. They finish their three-game set with Whitworth tomorrow afternoon.