By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth baseball will be at home again this weekend, hosting rival Whitman in a three-game Northwest Conference clash that will have major tournament implications.
The first three games of the series will count towards the team's conference records, but the finale on Sunday afternoon will be seen as a non-conference game. Check the scheduling page for live links to scores, stats, and streaming services.
The Pirates: Whitworth (18-7, 7-5 NWC) recovered from a 15-4 shellacking against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday and won its next three including a Tuesday conference game against Pacific Lutheran.
The Pirates took the Claremont series with a 7-4 win in Saturday's nightcap, and a 6-5 win on Sunday to take two of three. Whitworth took a 3-0 first inning lead off an RBI single from Spencer Shipman, Ty Quiggle followed that with a two-RBI single to score Zaske and Shipman giving Whitworth the early momentum. Didrickso and Mazzone homered for CMS in the fourth and fifth inning, and a sacrifice fly to score Mazzone tied the game 4-4 in the seventh. The Pirates rebounded however as Jacob Doughty blasted a solo homer to kick off the eighth before Zaske added another with an infield single to score Elijah Tanner and Austin Paul. Hunter Dryden slammed the door with three strikeouts in the seventh to help Whitworth even the series. On Sunday, CMS got out to the early lead going up three runs in the first inning on a two-run shot from Mazzone and an RBI-single from Potter. But Whitworth rallied for four runs in the third and two in the second to take the lead for good. Clogston and Morrison tagged base hits to score runners before Tanner doubled down the left field line to score the tying run, Zaske scored Tanner with some light contact to the right-side giving Whitworth a 4-3 lead. In the fourth, the Pirates cushioned their lead scoring on a sacrifice fly from Doughty and a wild pitch which gave them a 6-3 lead. The Stags rallied to cut the deficit to one run in the seventh, but Connor Ashworth tossed two scoreless innings to hold off a comeback.
On Tuesday, Whitworth left no doubt against a PLU team that might've been a little travel weary. The Lutes used eight pitchers as the Pirates racked up 12 hits and built a 10-1 lead. Meanwhile Dryden tossed 6.1 innings and allowed a single run in his fifth win of the season, and Tyler VanCise followed that with 2.2 scoreless innings to give Whitworth the season sweep over the Lutes.
Weekend's Top Performers: Ty Quiggle batted 7-14 on the weekend with four RBIs including three hits against PLU, Henry Zaske finished 5-12 with a pair of RBIs and a triple, Aidan Morrison was 4-11 at the plate with a pair of RBIs, a pair of doubles and five walks. On the mound, Dryden (5-1) pitched 7.1 innings, allowed six hits one earned run and struck out nine.
Big Picture: Going into the weekend, Whitworth is third in the conference standings. They trail second-place Whitman (16-9, 10-5 NWC) by 1.5 games and Willamette (19-6, 12-6 NWC) by two games. The conference is certainly still up for grabs, but this weekend will be a big factor in how the final standings shake out for the Pirates.
The Opponent: Whitman (16-9, 10-5 NWC) is sixth in the NWC in batting average (.260) and total runs (170), but the Blues have crushed a league-leading 34 home runs. They pair that power with an efficient pitching staff who's combined for a 4.07 ERA which allows a .230 average. Halen Otte leads Whitman in average (.341), RBIs (30), slugging percentage (.776), and home runs (10). Brandon Ting and Jack Bickerton are nice additions as well, Ting is hitting .318 with 26 RBIs and seven home runs while Bickerton's hitting .283 with 21 RBIs and eight home runs. On the mound, Whitman is led by Julien Hernandez; he's pitched 49 innings and struck out 68 batters, his ERA is 2.39 and he allows a .214 opponent batting average. Hernandez and Dryden are two of the top pitchers in the entire conference. The Pirates are 8-7 against Whitman since 2020 and 24-24 in the last 48 games, this weekend will likely be another chapter in what's been a very even series.
Quiggle breakout: Freshman Ty Quiggle has become a key part of the Pirate lineup. Quiggle is batting .365 on 27 hits, he's driven in 19 RBIs and drawn 15 walks to post a .473 on base percentage. He's tied with Morrison for the team's best average, and he's top four in hits and RBIs despite playing just 21 of 25 games. Quiggle is currently tied for ninth in the NWC in average, he's 10th in the conference in on-base percentage.
Packing a punch: Spencer Shipman and Aidan Morrison are tied for the team-lead with five home runs apiece. The two have been sparkplugs for the Whitworth lineup this season. Shipman and Morrison have combined for 48% of Whitworth's home runs, over a fourth of the total RBIs, they are the only two batters with slugging percentages above .525 and an OPS above .925.
The Key to the turnaround: 2024 has been a massive improvement over Whitworth's frustrating last two seasons. The Pirates' pitching staff has been the key to the turnaround; with 12 conference games left to go Whitworth leads the NWC in team ERA (3.95), total runs allowed (104), and saves (8), allowing a .261 average against. Dryden leads the conference in ERA (2.01) and runs allowed (12), second in wins (5), third in opposing average (.205), fourth in strikeouts (52). O'Connor is also top ten in the conference in ERA (4.26), 11th in opposing average (.257), and has struck out 31 batters in 38 innings. Ashworth and VanCise have been crucial in relief, Ashworth has an ERA of 1.50, three saves, and 24 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched.
The power of the head start: Whitworth continues to thrive when they get off on the right foot. The Pirates lone loss this weekend came after falling into a 9-0 hole after three innings, even with that they've managed to outscore opponents 63-35 in the first three innings of games. Whitworth is 16-1 when leading or tied after three innings, they're 2-6 on the other hand when trailing after three.
The Coach: CJ Perry is in his sixth season as the Pirates head coach. He began his tenure in 2018 and was named NWC coach of the year in 2019 after leading the Pirates to a 19-5 conference record and a regular season title. Perry is a Spokane native and graduated from Whitworth University in 2012. He entered 2024 with a 68-68 record.
Looking ahead: Whitworth will hit the road for a three-game series at Lewis & Clark (last year's NWC tournament champion) on April 20-21.
