Terminology
Be careful what you mean by "pitches up". Especially in exaggerated and abnormal attitudes the "normal" correlation between body angular rates and attitudes is lost.
So while the spinning aircraft may have a nose-up pitch rate (q) it may also have a stable pitch attitude (theta) and hence zero rate-of-change-of-pitch-attitude (theta-dot).
And some people use "pitch-up" when they more properly mean "rate of change of angle of attack" - yet another variation on the theme.