By: Ryan Lackey

WALLA WALLA, Wash. --- After rain truncated Saturday's planned doubleheader, the Bruins resumed their series at Whitman College on Sunday. After five scoreless innings on Saturday, Sunday was kinder to the bats: the Bruins scored twice in the eighth and once in the ninth to take a 4-3 lead, but Whitman pushed two across in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 win.

Recap:
The Bruins nearly claimed a win despite recording four hits to Whitman's 11. The Bruin starter, Dustin Wells, threw an effective seven innings, giving up two runs and blanking the Missionaries until his two bequeathed runners scored in the eighth.

Andrew Reichenbach opened the scoring in the sixth. With Kadyn Nannini on second after a walk and a steal, Reichenbach went with the pitch and singled down the right field line. In the eighth the Bruins added two more: with AJ Valencia on first and Clay Mott on third, the Bruins pulled off a slick steal, with Mott scoring on the throw down to second, which Valencia beat. Minutes later, with Valencia now on third and Reichenbach on first, the same play worked again, and the Bruins were up 3-0.

But in the eighth, Wells was finally gassed, giving up a double and a single before coming off for Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton, though, couldn't stem the bleeding, and a single to Adrian Vela and a double to Nick Johnson drove in three and tied the game.

Then, in the ninth, the Bruins manufactured another run which seemed the likely game-winner. Connor Newell was hit by a pitch, went to second on a balk, raced to third as Kyle Esquerra hit behind the runner., and scored on a wild pitch: 4-3, Bruins.

In the bottom of the ninth, Hamilton got an out but put two runners on base and was relieved. The new Bruin arm, Alex Jondal, immediately loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch, but recovered to induce a fly ball for the second out. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jondal was unable to get Paul Heywood, who walked off with a two-RBI single and a 5-4 Whitman win.

Top Performers:
Dustin Wells was the Bruins's standout, throwing seven laborious innings, striking out five, and allowing just two runs. Reichenbach went 1-3 with an RBI. Clay Mott and Kadyn Nannini both had a hit and run scored.

What It Means:
The Bruins remain above .500 at 10-8 overall. Their conference record stands at 6-4.

What Comes Next:
The Bruins still have two additional games slated against Whitman to complete.