WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whitworth baseball team continued its strong start to the season with two commanding wins in a doubleheader sweep of Whittier College on Saturday at Memorial Field.
The Pirates took the opener, 6-2, and won the nightcap, 20-4. Kelly Fitzpatrick tossed six scoreless innings and the Pirates scored four times in the third inning to fuel the game one victory, while an offensive showcase featuring 17 hits, including four home runs, highlighted the second game.
Whitworth (3-0) will try to remain unbeaten when it faces Whittier (0-2) at 11 a.m. Sunday to conclude the weekend trip.
Game 1: Whitworth 6, Whittier 2
Fitzpatrick tossed six shutout innings in his Pirate debut and the Pirates used a four-run third inning to take control in the victory.
Fitzpatrick (1-0), a transfer from Yakima Valley CC, followed Ryan Kingma's quality start on opening day with an eight-strikeout performance, surrendering only three hits.
A leadoff walk to Garrett Hughes in the third inning followed by a single from Jeremy Druffel set the stage for Matthew Nelson, who scored both runners with a double to right field. JT Phelan kept the inning rolling with a single and Joel Condreay later delivered a two-out, two-RBI double for the 4-0 lead.
Whitworth added one run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings. Ryan Bird drove home Nelson with a single after Nelson had worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second with a single by Phelan and to third on a fly out.
Phelan delivered a two-out RBI double during the eighth frame for a 6-0 lead, scoring Anthony Bonilla who had walked to begin the inning.
Two Whitworth errors in the bottom of the eighth allowed Whittier to score a pair of unearned off reliever Arory Milyard. But Milyard held the damage at two runs, recording a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Phelan was 3 for 5 with a run scored and a RBI to lead Whitworth offensively. The Pirates also collected nine walks in the game. Hughes, Nelson and Jacob Yamane each walked twice.
Milyard struck out four Poets over three innings of relief work, allowing three hits.
Game 2: Whitworth 20, Whittier 4
Whitworth belted four home runs and six Pirates recorded multi-hit games as the Pirates scored in seven of nine innings with an offensive explosion during the nightcap.
The Pirates struck right away as Nelson doubled home Druffel in the first inning, but Whittier responded to take the lead with a three-run second inning. The Poets used two hits and and two Pirate errors in the inning to plate three runs.
Whitworth answered right back with three runs in the third inning, punctuated by a two-out, two-run home run from Jordan McGowan.
A leadoff home run by Zach Thibault upped the Whitworth lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning. Whittier put one run on the board in the fourth inning to come within 5-4 before Whitworth scored four runs apiece in the fifth and sixth innings.
In the sixth, the damage came by way of Yamane's bat, delivering a three-run home run to score McGowan and Nelson. Nelson had walked to leadoff the inning and McGowan followed with a double. Later in the inning, Casey Isa scored Jacob Silva with a RBI double, increasing the Pirate lead to 9-4.
Bird smacked a grand slam in the sixth inning, the fourth home run of the game, as Whitworth opened a 13-4 lead. A RBI double from Nelson and sacrifice fly by McGowan added runs in the seventh inning.
Whitworth continued to produce with five runs during the ninth inning, using four walks and two hits while sending nine men to the plate.
Phelan, along with relievers Tim Bever and Taylor Hillmick, held Whittier at bay on the mound. Bever was impressive in relief, pitching 3 ⅔ innings of three-hit scoreless relief.
Nicholas Nerud (3-3, run, RBI), Druffel (3-7, 3 runs), Nelson (2-3, 3 BB, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), McGowan (2-3, 3 runs, 3 RBIs), Thibault (2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) and Skyler Lookabill (2-2, run, RBI) all had multi-hit games.
The 20 runs scored were the most in a game for Whitworth since the Pirates scored a school-record 29 runs last season at Whitman.
