SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth baseball is back at home this weekend to host Willamette in a three-game Northwest Conference series at Paul Merkel Field.

Check the baseball scheduling page for links to live stats, scores, and streaming services.

The Pirates: Whitworth (12-3, 3-2 NWC) dropped the first two games of the series against Pacific, despite holding a 7-0 and 4-0 lead, before avoiding the sweep with a convincing 11-4 win. The Pirates had lost 10 straight against the Boxers coming into the weekend, but looked poise to snap that skid emphatically as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game one. The Pirates scored five in the third inning capped by Ty Quiggle's single to left scoring Shipman, in the fourth it was Aidan Morrison who singled to score Jacob Doughty and Aaron Clogston to make it 7-0. But the Boxers roared back as Vincent Lagatta belted a grand slam in the sixth to make it 7-5, and Matthews followed that with a two-run shot to tie the game. Jett Mai completed the stunning comeback in the ninth with a walk off single to left. In game two, Quiggle delivered a base clearing double in the first inning to open a 4-0 lead, but Will Matthews tripled in the second to score two and help the Boxers tie things 4-4. Pacific kept on rolling, posting 12 hits, and capitalizing on four errors to win 11-6. However, facing a possible sweep in game three Whitworth finished the weekend strong. Whitworth jumped out to a 5-1 lead but saw it quickly trimmed to 5-4, they didn't let it get away this time though. The Pirates exploded for five runs in the ninth as Kyle Corder and Henry Zaske each singled to bring in a pair of runs, giving Whitworth a huge win in Forest Grove.

Series Top Performers: Quiggle delivered some huge hits for the Pirates and finished the weekend 5-12 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. Aidan Morrison delivered another home run, scored three times, and finished 4-12 at the plate with 4 RBIs. On the mound, Connor Ashworth helped clinch the Bucs win on Sunday throwing four scoreless innings while allowing just a pair of hits.

After this weekend, Whitworth sits in fourth place in the conference but just two games back from Willamette who leads the NWC. The Pirates offense has still impressed, they're batting .291 with 30 doubles and 17 home runs, a .444 slugging percentage and a .400 on base percentage. The Pirates lead the NWC with a .979 fielding percentage, and they're second in ERA (3.47) trailing only Willamette. Hunter Dryden is second in the conference with a 1.35 ERA, Connor Ashworth and Quentin O'Connor are also in the top ten with a 2.55 and 3.42 ERA.

The Opponent: Willamette (14-2, 7-2 NWC) has won six straight coming into the weekend and they have an opportunity to stretch their lead over the rest of the conference. The Bearcats started the season 8-0 before losing twice at Pacific Lutheran, but they've recovered since. Jeff Hoffman has been the Bearcats source of power offensively, Hoffman's belted four home runs and has 15 RBIs on 12 hits while batting .343.  Carl Lawson leads the Bearcats in average (.370), and hits (20). On the mound, Layton Wagner has been dominant allowing three earned runs in 28 innings for a league-best 0.96 ERA, striking out 31 batters and walking six. Wagner hasn't been untouchable; however, he's allowed 23 hits and 10 runs in those innings (although seven were unearned). The Bearcats have won 11 straight against Whitworth.

Dryden's Record Recap: Dryden's scoreless inning streak was snapped in the fifth inning of Saturday's game against Pacific. He had pitched 27 scoreless innings to start the season, which is a Whitworth program record. Dryden will look to get back on track on Saturday against Willamette.

More Morrison please: Aidan Morrison continues to be a catalyst in Whitworth's prolific offense. Morrison has posted 18 RBIs on 20 hits, he's slapped four doubles and four home runs, while batting .323 on the season with a .581 slugging percentage. Morrison is top two on the team in all those categories.

Getting a head start: Despite two losses last weekend, fast starts were not the issue. Whitworth continued to jump on opponents early, and they've outscored their opponents 39-8 in the first three innings of games this season.

Bucking the Bearcat Trend: Whitworth has lost 11 straight games to Willamette and have not beat them in a weekend series since 2019 when they won the NWC title. The Pirates snapped their long losing streak against Pacific last weekend, and they'll be looking to take a few from Willamette this weekend in an important conference series. If the Pirates swept Willamette, they'd move ahead of them in the conference standings.

The Coach: CJ Perry is in his sixth season as the Pirates head baseball coach, he began his tenure in 2018 and was named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2019. Perry is a Spokane native and graduated from Whitworth University in 2012. Perry entered 2024 with a 68-68 record but led the Pirates to a conference title in 2019 with a 19-5 NWC record.

Looking ahead: Whitworth will be in Tacoma to take on Puget Sound in a three-game series starting Friday March 29.