Weekend Baseball at Borleske: Whits Hunting for First Wins

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- A young and hungry Whitman College baseball team goes hunting for its first victories of the season this weekend when Puget Sound comes to Borleske Stadium to open the Northwest Conference season.

Saturday's doubleheader starts at 11 a.m. with a third game slated for noon on Sunday.

Justin Weeks

Whitman, 0-12 in early non-conference games, has toyed with the victory column for the past three weeks, losing two games by a single run and four more contests by three-run margins.

Three of those three-run losses came last weekend at Borleske as the Missionaries and ninth-ranked Eastern Connecticut State battled through harsh weather conditions that combined gusting winds with cold temperates and snow flurries.

Whitman baseball fans can rejoice in this weekend's relatively mild weather forecast, which calls for high temperatures ranging from 53 to 58 degrees with mostly clouds a 20 percent of showers. Winds are projected at 10 to 20 mph with higher gusts.

Sunday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, highs 54 to 59 with winds at 10 to 20 mph.

Puget Sound comes to town with a 2-7-1 early season record. The Loggers opened with wins in two of their first three games but have dropped seven of eight since them. Their lone non-loss was a 7-7 10-inning tie with Whitworth -- a game that was called due to darkness on a field with no lights.

Whitman dropped three games to Puget Sound last season in Tacoma. The Missionaries lost the opener of that series 6-4 and led 3-2 in the finale before Puget Sound grabbed the lead and pulled away to complete the series sweep.

Whitman's last victory over the Loggers was a 2-1 triumph in March of 2010.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu