TACOMA, Wash. – The Bushnell University baseball team powered their way to a game two victory to split a non-conference doubleheader with NCAA Division III Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday.
 
Bushnell (4-4) responded from a game one loss with a 17-hit second game. Chase Nye recorded five RBI in the win, going 3-for-5 at the plate. Isaiah Hart and Kai Keamo also finished with three hits apiece.
 
Max Chapman (1-1), who pitched a strong six innings in the victory, said, "It felt really good to get one back after game one. Once we got the bats going early, the momentum seemed to stay with us the entire time. The pitching staff played their role in limiting their offensive and we saw success."
 
Keamo added, ""It was a great bounce back from game one and game two showed what we are capable of. If we play like that every game, we will have high hopes for the rest of the season."
 
Game 1: Pacific Lutheran 5, Bushnell 3
 
A five-run seventh inning lifted Pacific Lutheran (1-1) to a season-opening win. The Lutes had just two hits entering the frame before rallying off seven singles to eliminate a three-run deficit and take the lead.  
 
Albert Jennings and Reece Carganilla accounted for the three Bushnell runs. Jennings hit a two-run double in the third and Carganilla brought home one more with a single in the fourth. Kyle Casperson led the Beacons offensively, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate.
 
Ethan Sachs went 6.1 innings for the Beacons, giving up on three runs on five hits.
 
Game 2: Bushnell 17, Pacific Lutheran 7
 
The Beacons piled on in the game two victory, finishing with eight extra-base hits. Chapman allowed two runs on three hits in six innings of work. Garrett Vohs, Jayden Soriano and Blake Stavros each threw an inning to finish off the victory.
 
Hart got Bushnell on the board with a solo homer to left center to make it a one-run deficit in the top of the second. Jordan Wilson did the same in the fourth, leading off the inning with a solo shot of his own to tie the game at 2-2. A double from Brandon Reed and a sacrifice fly by Keamo gave the Beacons a 4-2 lead after four.
 
Jennings added a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth and Bushnell continued the scoring with a five-run top of the sixth to extend the lead to 10-2. Cade Crist drew a bases-loaded walk before Ethan Stacy and Nye each drove in a pair of runs.
 
Nye made it an 11-2 lead for the Beacons in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly, bringing home Liam Kerr.
 
The Lutes cut the deficit to 11-5 in the bottom of the seventh but the Beacons answered with six more runs in the eighth. Keamo, Crist, Nye and Brendan Frazier drove in runs in the frame to make it a 17-5 advantage. PLU got two back in the bottom of the ninth but Bushnell secured the 10-run win.
 
Up Next: Bushnell takes on NCAA Division II Saint Martin's University on Sunday at 11 a.m.