By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth baseball will pack its bags and head over the mountains this weekend for a three-game series in Tacoma against Puget Sound.
The series will begin with a doubleheader on Friday at noon and 3 and will wrap up Saturday with first pitch at noon. Check the baseball scheduling page for streaming, scores, and updates.
The Pirates: Whitworth (14-4, 5-3 NWC) took two of three at home last weekend over the first-place Willamette Bearcats (15-4, 8-4 NWC). The Pirates have weathered series against Pacific and Willamette back-to-back and come out 3-3 overall to remain in third place in the conference standings.
In last weekend's series, the Pirates fell 6-2 in game one. Willamette's Layton Wagner outdueled Hunter Dryden, striking out seven batters and allowing just one run through seven innings to hand Dryden his first loss of the season. The Pirates fell into a 4-0 hole after a three-run home run by Luke Piazza and a solo shot from Rocco Granucci in the third inning and were not able to make up any ground. In game two of Saturday, the Pirates flipped the script and came away with a 6-2 win of their own. Jack Leary (3-0) struck out six and allowed just a pair of runs in 6.2 innings of work while the Whitworth bats got going early. Henry Zaske and Ty Quiggle recorded infield singles to drive home a pair of first-inning runs before Elijah Tanner broke things open with a double down the left field line to score Aidan Morrison and Kyle Corder, giving Whitworth a 4-0 lead in the fifth. Willamette got two runs back in the seventh as Whitworth worked out of a bases-loaded jam, but Aaron Clogston singled to score two runs in the eighth and hold off a Bearcat rally. In the series finale on Sunday, Whitworth jumped out to an 8-0 lead after four innings. Zaske started the avalanche with a solo shot before Jacob Doughty tripled to drive in another run, Clogston followed that with a double to score Doughty. In the third Spencer Shipman tagged a double to drive in a pair of runs before Kyle Corder tripled to score another two. Morrison wrapped up the flurry with a solo shot to put the Pirates up 8-0, and they coasted to a 9-2 victory from there. Quentin O' Connor (3-1) pitched five innings and allowed a pair of runs, Connor Ashworth pitched four innings in relief, and didn't allow a run.
Series' Top Performers: Elijah Tanner batted 7-14 on the weekend, driving in 3 RBIs and scoring three times himself, Aidan Morrison hit 5-11 with a home run and scored four times. On the mound, Jack Leary tossed 6.2 innings and allowed just two runs while striking out six to lead Whitworth to its first of two wins last weekend.
Whitworth currently sits in third place in the NWC, trailing Whitman (11-7, 6-3 NWC) by half a game and Willamette by two games. The Pirates are batting .289 as a team (4th in NWC), a .445 slugging percentage, and a .395 on-base percentage with 19 home runs. Whitworth's pitching staff is second in ERA (3.65), holds the conference-low in walks (56) and have struck out 147 batters while allowing a .247 average against (2nd in the NWC).
The Opponent: Puget Sound (9-12, 1-5 NWC) have started conference play slowly. The Loggers were swept at Willamette on March 16-17 and lost two of three against George Fox last weekend. The Loggers are led by two-way Junior Davis Franklin who's batting .364 with 28 hits (4 home runs), 14 RBIs, and a slugging percentage of .636 (all lead PSU). On the mound, Franklin has pitched 35.2 innings and struck out 44 batters while posting a 3.28 ERA and allowing a .213 average to opposing hitters. As a team, Puget Sound is hitting .251 and averaging 5.47 runs per game. The Loggers are 4-3 against Whitworth in the last two seasons, they'll be looking to get something going this weekend to avoid falling further into last place in the conference.
More Morrison Please: Aidan Morrison remains in the conference's top ten in hits (25), RBIs (19), home runs (5) and runs (24). Morrison has been extremely productive at the plate this season, batting .342 with a .616 slugging percentage.
Tanner heating up: Elijah Tanner found his groove again last weekend. He leads the Pirates with a .382 average on 29 hits. He's eighth in the NWC in batting average, fifth in hits, and fifth in stolen bases.
RBI Party: The NWC RBI leaderboards list has turned into a Pirate party. Four of the ten on the list are Whitworth Pirates; Morrison, Shipman, Zaske, and Corder are all in the top ten as the four have combined for 55% of Whitworth's total RBIs. Seven Pirates have double digit RBIs as Tanner (13), Clogston (12), and Quiggle (10) aren't far behind.
Getting a head start: Once again, a fast start came in handy for the Pirates last weekend. In their two wins, they led 2-0 and 7-0 after three innings. Whitworth has outscored its opponents 48-16 in the first three innings of games this season, the Pirates are 12-1 when leading after three innings.
The Coach: CJ Perry is in his sixth season as the Pirates head basketball 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 at home hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a three-game series on April 6 & 7th. They will take on Pacific Lutheran at home two days later in a makeup game on Tuesday, April 9th.
