TACOMA, Washington – Talk about a welcome back party.

The Puget Sound baseball team won its first game of the 2021 season, 20-3, at home against Whitworth Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Nathan Blocher set the tone early by belting a second-inning grand slam, and starting pitcher Davis Miller earned the victory after allowing just two earned runs in five innings.

The Pirates cut the Loggers' lead to 5-3 in the top of the sixth inning, but Blocher and Kyle Strash both delivered RBI doubles in the bottom of the stanza.

Dylan Joyce hit two home runs Saturday, the first of which was a solo shot to leadoff the seventh inning. His second long ball was a three-run job in the eighth inning.

Six Loggers compiled multiple hits, led by three from Blocher, Joyce, and Jake Briscoe. Five Loggers finished with multiple RBIs. Blocher knocked in six runs, and Joyce drove in four.

Puget Sound and Whitworth have a doubleheader at Logger Field Sunday, Feb. 28, starting at 11 a.m.