Rain halted the second game after five innings with the score tied at 5-5. Whitman senior Quincy Ribellia belted a pair of two-run home runs in the nightcap. Freshman Ben McPherrin used his quickness to beat out infield singles prior to each of Ribellia's homers. Another freshman, Ed Reese, hurled three innings in the second game, striking out three while giving up just two hits and no earned runs.
In the first game, McPherrin tripled and scored on freshman Merrill Bevan's sacrifice fly. Ribellia doubled, walked twice and scored a run. Casey Riffe singled in a run and scored one of his own. Matt Storey and Rob Maysey also had singles for Whitman.
"It was a good game, and we played much better," Whitman coach Jon Edwards said. "We're just short of pitchers at this point." Quincy Ribellia hurled the first five innings and had the Missionaries in front 6-4. Ribellia tired in the sixth, however, and the Mountaineers rallied for four runs and the lead.
Earlier on Sunday, Whitman lost to Pacific University 10-2, after losing by the same score to George Fox College on Saturday despite Ribellia's third home run of the young season. "Lucas Ward also hit the ball well at times, and our middle defense was good," Edwards said.
Ribellia, who collected three hits in eight official tournament at-bats, is hitting .500 through Whitman's first five games. He had knocked in six runs, scored five times and drawn five walks.
Freshman Ben McPherrin collected four singles and two RBI in nine trips to the plate during the tournament, boosting his batting average to .438.
Freshman Rob Butler knocked in two runs with a triple and single, and another freshman, Willy Becker, collected two RBI with a double and single. A third freshman, Ben McPherrin, rapped a triple and scored two runs, while Quincy Ribellia singled in a run. Dave Thennis doubled, walked and scored twice.
Ribellia hurled the first six innings to get the victory. Chris Drabek recorded the final three outs in the seventh inning to pick up the save.
In the twinbill's second game, Puget Sound used an 11-run third inning to coast to 15-6 victory. Reese singled three times and walked once in four trips to the plate; he also knocked in a run. Ribellia tripled home a run in the first inning, while Wade Lockett smacked a RBI-single in the fourth frame. Merrill Bevan walked three times and scored a pair of runs.
Whitman pitcher Matt Storey had his best outing of the season on Sunday, hurling the first six and two-thirds innings and holding Willamette to four runs, three of them earned. Merrill Bevan and Lucas Ward ripped back-to-back doubles in the top of the eighth inning to plate a run and pull Whitman to within 4-3 on the scoreboard. But Willamette loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, and with two outs, scored four times to pull away. Earlier in the game, Bevan singled home Whitman's first run and Wade Lockett doubled and scored on an error to account for the second Missionary run.
Willamette also won a pair of games on Saturday, downing Whitman 4-1 in seven innings and 6-1 in the nine-inning
In Saturday's first game, Casey Riffe had two hits in three trips to the plate and knocked in Whitman's only run. Willamette capitalized on a misplayed bunt to score twice in the first inning and then added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth inning. Willamette managed just four hits off starter Ed Reese and reliever Lucas Ward.
Quincy Ribellia went the distance on the mound for Whitman in the second game, limiting Willamette to three runs over the first six innings. Ribellia also paced the offense with a pair of hits.
In Friday's nine-inning single game, Whitman led 2-1 until Lewis & Clark scored three times in the top of the seventh to emerge with a 4-2 victory. Merrill Bevan and Quincy Ribellia rapped back-to-back singles in the fourth inning and later scored Whitman's only runs of the game. Whitman threatened in each of the final two frames, but left the sacks full in the ninth after stranding two runners in the eighth. Bevan paced the offense in Friday's game with three hits, including a double. Matt Storey had a pair of singles and a walk in four trips to the plate.
Lewis & Clark won Saturday's games 4-2 and 11-4. In the opener, Storey gave up a run in the first inning, but then held Lewis & Clark scoreless over the next five innings. Whitman grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth on singles by Storey, Rob Butler, and Wade Lockett, and a double from Ben McPherrin.
In the top of the seventh, Storey struck out the first hitter he faced. But Lewis & Clark used a single, walk and a two-run triple to take a 3-2 lead and knock Storey from the mound. Chris Drabek retired the side, but not before a fourth run scored on a sacrifice fly.
Five Whitman errors early in Saturday's second game allowed Lewis & Clark to bolt to an 11-0 lead and hold on for an 11-4 victory. After Casey Riffe singled home Whitman's first run in the fourth, Bevan doubled home a second run in the fifth frame. Whitman scored twice more in the eighth inning when Bevan rapped his second double of the game and Ribellia, Storey and Riffe added singles.
Pitching in relief for the third time in the series, Drabek held Lewis & Clark scoreless from the fifth through the eighth inning. He retired the side on four pitches in the sixth. Bevan, who collected six hits in the three games, also had Saturday's defensive play of the day, diving to his right to snare a hard grounder. The freshman second-baseman bounced to his feet in time to throw out the runner at first.
Whitman's active roster dipped to 12 athletes the previous week when non-baseball injuries sidelined pitchers Lucas Ward and Ed Reese. Ward, a sophomore who also plays first base, suffered ligament damage to his right knee while playing intramural ultimate frisbee and is out of the season. Reese, a promising freshman who also plays third base, required 12 stitches to close a cut on his pitching hand after having a door slammed on it.
In Sunday's first game, George Fox parlayed four singles, a double, walk and error into a six-run first inning. After that, however, Whitman's Quincy Ribellia held the Bruins scoreless the rest of the way. Whitman tallied its only two runs in the fifth inning on Casey Riffe's double and a trio of singles by Willy Becker, Wade Lockett and Ben McPherrin.
Matt Storey rapped two singles for Whitman in Sunday's opener, as did Ribellia in the second game.
Hitting in the leadoff spot, McPherrin walked twice, singled and scored two runs in Monday's finale. Ribellia added more singles for the Missionaries, while Storey smacked a double and single.
For the second consecutive weekend, Matt Storey, Chris Drabek and Ribellia hurled complete games to compensate for an injury-riddled pitching staff. Ribellia, who went the distance on the mound in Sunday's nine-inning game, also ripped an eighth-inning double in addition to his RBI sacrifice fly in the first frame.
Whitman's Chris Drabek hurled the first four innings in Saturday's opener, holding the Lutes to two hits, one run and no walks while striking out three. He left the game leading 6-1, but PLU pieced together its huge 13-run fifth inning against an injury-riddled and over-worked Whitman relief corps to claim the victory. Despite that PLU explosion, Whitman outhit the Lutes 12-11. Wade Lockett ripped a double and two singles, while Merrill Bevan and Matt Storey each had a double and single.
In Saturday's second game, Bevan reached base four times, smacking a double, walking twice and getting hit with a pitch. He also stole a base. Freshman Ed Reese collected two RBI with two singles and a sacrifice fly. Casey Riffe doubled home a run and walked twice.
PLU took Sunday's game 11-6, despite a three-run home run by Whitman's Quincy Ribellia. It was his team-leading fifth round-tripper of the season, and it highlighted Whitman's five-run sixth inning. Ribellia also singled home a fourth run and walked once. Lockett rapped a run-scoring double and finished the three-game series with five hits. Freshman Ben McPherrin and Riffe each had a pair of singles. Drabek pitched another scoreless inning in relief, giving him four gooseggs for the weekend and lowering his team-leading earned run average in conference action to 4.37. Bevan continues to pace the Whitman offense with 17 hits, including seven doubles, and a .315 batting average in conference play.
Whitman bounced back in the nightcap, extending its lead to 8-1 when Wade Lockett drilled a two-run single in the top of the seventh. But Whitman starter Matt Storey, after holding Pacific to one run through six innings, tired in the seventh and the Boxers rallied. Reliever Quincy Ribellia finally quelled the five-run uprising and then retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings to seal the victory.
Casey Riffe paced the second-game offense with three hits. Storey and Lockett added two hits apiece. Riffe also had two hits in the second game.
In Sunday's finale, a faulty Whitman defense gave up 10 unearned runs on six errors as Pacific won 20-2.