LA VERNE, Calif. – Whitworth picked up its first win of the 2023 baseball season by holding off La Verne 5-3 at Ben Hines Field on Sunday afternoon.
The visiting Pirates improved to 1-3 with a win in the Leopards' season opener. Whitworth will be back in action next weekend with three games against Corban University in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Hunter Dryden threw five shutout innings for the Bucs, while Zach Tincher and Elijah Tanner each drove in a pair of RBIs.
Tincher's RBI single in the top of the fourth inning drove in Dawson Warner with the game's first run. He added a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to score Austin Paul. Blake Barrett followed Tincher with a single through the right side of the infield that scored Riley Cissne for a 3-0 lead.
Tanner seemed to ice the game in the top of the eighth with a two-run triple with two outs.
Dryden sailed through five innings on the mound, allowing only three hits and two walks. He relied on his defense, striking out only one batter.
Hunter Williams threw the final four innings to earn his first save of 2023. He survived La Verne's three-run rally in the ninth, which included two Pirate errors that led to a pair of unearned runs. He got the final Leopard batter to pop up as the potential tying run.
Paul, Warner and Tanner all had two hits each for Whitworth.
