Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – Lucas Stone drove in two runs and tossed 7.1 innings of relief but the Puget Sound baseball team fell 6-5 in a 16-inning battle at Whitworth. The marathon loss meant the Pirates (8-6-1, 3-0 NWC) had secured the series sweep over the Loggers (7-9, 2-4 NWC).
With a 4-3 lead, Stone came in from right field to pitch and looked to secure the save. He pitched out of a jam in the seventh but Josh Davis tied the game up with an RBI-hit in the eighth and forced extra innings.
Both teams stayed scoreless for the next five frames as Stone and Whitworth's Taylor Isadore stifled opposing hitters. Isadore allowed just two hits over his 6.2 innings of relief. Stone allowed six hits and struck out six as both received the tough no-decisions on the mound.
In the 14th, a single from Stone put the go-ahead run in scoring position and Nick Funyak cashed it in. Funyak hit a deep liner into left field, allowing Christian Carter to tag up from third and put the Loggers up 5-4.
A Logger error put a runner on board to lead off the bottom half and Jeremy Druffel later tied up the game with one of his four hits.
After a scoreless 15th, the Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 16th with two outs. Tyler Pfeffer, who also had four hits smacked the game-winner into left field to score the deciding run.
The Loggers had taken the lead much earlier in the game in the fifth inning. Down 3-1, the Loggers had runners on second and third with no outs. Kaulana Smith drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Nate Backes' grounder forced another run home and Stone doubled later in the inning to cash in Backes.
The three-run inning grabbed the lead for the Loggers. They had the initial lead when they pushed across a run in the first but Whitworth scored twice in the bottom half and once more in the third.
Spencer Ansett ended up with the win on the mound while Rhett Gibbs took the tough loss for the Loggers.
The Loggers take a break from conference action next weekend and will head out to Caldwell, Idaho for a four-game series with the College of Idaho.
