SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth baseball returns home this weekend for a three-game series against the Linfield Wildcats. First pitch is scheduled at noon on Saturday at Paul Merkel Field.

It will be the final home series for Pirate seniors Hunter Dryden, Aaron Clogston, Aidan Morrison, Jacob Doughty, Jack Leary, Joey Del Carlo, Hunter Williams, and Dylan Owen.

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The Pirates: Whitworth (21-11, 9-9 NWC) has gradually slid from that 11-0 start to the beginning of the year, they've now lost two of three in three straight conference series (Lewis & Clark, Whitman, and Puget Sound). Nonetheless, the Pirates remain in fourth place in the standings, and has a chance to gain ground on third-place Linfield this weekend.

Against L&C last weekend, Whitworth dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader before salvaging a win in Sunday's finale. The Pirates fought back from a 4-1 deficit in game one to tie things briefly. Henry Zaske, Spencer Shipman, and Austin Paul each tagged RBI-base hits in a seventh inning that tied things 4-4. The Pioneers responded with two of their own in the bottom of the frame, Aaron Clogston belted a solo shot to center in the eighth to cut the deficit in half, but Whitworth came up short 6-5. Game two was a runaway as the Pioneers built a 10-1 lead after six, Luke Bass delivered a third-inning grand slam and a pair of solo home runs by Jakob Ghammachi helped build L&C's lead. Blake Barrett ripped an RBI-triple to score Ty Quiggle in the seventh, and a single to score Aidan Morrison in the eighth, but the Pirates fell 10-3. On Sunday, the Pirates responded calmly building a 5-0 lead through the top of the fourth. Kyle Corder got it going with a two-RBI double to right center in the second, Elijah Tanner capped it with a double of his own to score Austin Paul in the fourth. Ghammachi belted his third home run of the weekend to draw L&C to 5-2, and the score stayed that way until Shipman and Morrison delivered RBI-base hits in the eighth to cushion the Pirate lead to 7-2, Clogston added an RBI-single in the ninth to give Whitworth the 8-2 win.  

This season, Whitworth is third in the conference in average (.285), second in runs (242), fourth in slugging percentage (.431) and on-base percentage (.390). Defensively they rank third in fielding percentage (.971), and ERA (4.63), and fourth in opposing batting average (.264).

Series Top Performers: Blake Barrett was incredible in his two starts last weekend, the junior has less than 30 at bats (including his eight last weekend) this season but was a main catalyst for the Pirates. Barrett went 5-8 at the plate including a double, triple, and home run while driving in three RBIs and scoring once himself. On the mound, Quentin O'Connor pitched six innings and allowed two earned runs, Hunter Williams followed it with three shutout innings and four strikeouts on zero hits allowed.

The Opponent: Linfield (18-17, 11-9 NWC) comes into the weekend having lost its last two games after winning eight straight prior to that. The Wildcats swept PLU, beat L&C and won four of five over George Fox during that streak (two scored as non-conference).

Linfield is led by senior infielder Elijah Maris who leads the entire conference with a .397 average and 50 hits. Maris leads the 'Cats with a 1.193 OPS, 38 runs scored, 12 doubles, and a .690 slugging percentage on seven home runs and 87 total bases. On the mound, Camden Oren and Jacob Swenson have held it down for Linfield. Oren's pitched 65.2 innings, struck out 47, and has a 4.25 ERA while Swenson (a freshman) has pitched 54.2 innings, struck out 41, and posted a 3.95 ERA. The Wildcats are coached by Dan Spencer who's in his fifth season at the helm, he's 5-8 against Whitworth. The 'Cats are looking to make it back to the NWC tournament for the second time in three seasons.

The ole' Pirate bounce back: Whitworth's ability to navigate a day of adversity has served them well this season. The Pirates have lost five of six series openers against NWC opponents (including the first two games in four of those series) but have yet to be swept. Against Pacific, Whitworth blew back-to-back leads of 4+ runs on Saturday, before winning 11-4 on Sunday. They turned a 6-2 loss in the Willamette opener into 6-2 and 9-2 wins to take the series, a 2-1 and 6-2 loss to Puget Sound into a 15-3 Sunday win, dropped two against Whitman before taking both on Sunday, and lost Saturday's doubleheader 6-5 and 10-3 at L&C last weekend before winning 8-3 on Sunday.

Barrett Breakout: Junior Blake Barrett made the most of his opportunity last weekend, going 5-8 at the plate with a double, triple, and a home run for three RBIs. We'll see what his opportunity looks like this weekend, but if he can stay on a roll, he may be a nice addition to Whitworth's lineup down the home stretch.

The power of an early lead: Once again, in both Pirate losses this weekend they fell into early deficits of 3-1 and 4-0. In Sunday's win they jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings and controlled it the rest of the way. The Pirates have outscored opponents 83-53 in the first three innings of games this season. Whitworth is 18-2 when leading or tied after three innings, they're 3-9 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 as head coach, looking to lead Whitworth back to the conference tournament for the first time since 2019.

Looking ahead: Whitworth will be at George Fox in the regular season finale, likely with a trip to the conference tournament hanging in the balance.