SPOKANE, WASH – Whitworth swept Saturday's Northwest Conference doubleheader against Linfield at Paul Merkel Field. The Pirates beat the Wildcats 6-3 in game one and walked off game two in the tenth inning 12-11 to hold off a late rally.
Whitworth (22-11, 11-9 NWC) won game one on the brilliance of Austin Paul's second-inning grand slam and a seven-inning gem from Hunter Dryden, and they won game two thanks to a brilliant display of hitting to hold off a late rally from the Wildcats (18-19, 11-11 NWC)
The Bucs look to complete the sweep in game three on Sunday at Merkel Field, first pitch is scheduled for noon.
Game 1- Whitworth 6, Linfield 3
Hunter Dryden (6-1) rung up eight batters in his final home start and Austin Paul hit 3-4 including an early grand slam off the scoreboard to help secure Whitworth a win in the series opener.
Paul's grand slam put the Pirates on the board in the second inning, a no doubter that plunked off the middle of the Merkel Field scoreboard to make it 4-0. Linfield's Nick Holm put the 'Cats on the board with an RBI-double in the fourth, but Ty Quiggle answered with a base hit to drive in a run and make it 5-1 in the fifth.
The teams traded runs again in the seventh as Linfield's Trent Wainfield drove with a base hit before Blake Barrett (the star of last weekend's series) tagged an RBI-single to keep it a four-run game.
Dryden pitched seven innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits. Hunter Williams pitched the final two innings for the Pirates and gave up just one run on two hits.
Camden Oram (5-4) started on the mound for Linfield and pitched five innings on five runs and five hits before being relieved of his duties. Reliever, Matthew Tacheny threw three innings on one run and three hits.
Game 2 – Whitworth 12, Linfield 11.
Elijah Tanner hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth to cap a five-RBI day as Whitworth held off a furious Linfield comeback to clinch the series in a game that featured 27 hits.
Tanner was a force all afternoon, driving in the Pirates first run with a single in the first and slicing a base-clearing double in the fifth which had put Whitworth up 9-5. The Pirates held leads of 6-1, 9-5 and 11-6 (11-9 with two outs in the ninth) but Linfield managed to get the game to extras, nearly pulling off a stunning comeback.
It was not a day for pitchers, that was evident from the start. Linfield pushed a run across in the first on a Hunter Klingelhoffer sacrafice fly, but the Pirates pushed four across in response on Tanner's single and a three-run blast to deep left by Spencer Shipman who added to that lead with an RBI-single in the second to go up 6-1.
Klingelhoffer ended Connor Ashworth's day with a two-run blast in the third to cut the deficit to 6-4 (capping a three-run inning for Linfield). Tanner kept the 'Cats at bay momentarily with that base clearing double down the left field line for a 9-5 lead, but things were far from over.
Trailing 11-6, Linfield pushed across three runs in the eighth off Tyler VanCise to keep hope alive. In the ninth with one out and one on, Holm brought the 'Cats even with a two-run blast to left that seemed to leave the park the second it hit the bat.
After a clean top half of the tenth for the Pirates' pitching staff, Jacob Doughty got the offense started in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff double. Aaron Clogston moved Doughty to second on a sacrifice bunt, and the next two Pirate hitters were intentionally walked. That brought Tanner to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Tanner roped a single through the left side of the infield for his fifth RBI of the game and to give the Bucs' a 12-11 walk-off win in the first extra innings game they've played all season.
Conner Ashworth pitched 3.1 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits as the Pirates' starter. Jack Leary was first from the bullpen with 3.2 innings of work on one run and three hits. Tyler VanCise followed for two innings, and allowed five runs on three hits. Reliever Evan Williamson (1-0), pitched the final inning and allowed no runs or hits.
Francis (1-1) pitched the first two innings and gave up six runs on seven hits. Out of the bullpen was John Over (1IP, 1R, 2H), Logan Travis (2IP, 3R, 2H), Jhett Jacquot (2IP, 1R, 2H), and Gavin Ludlow (2.1IP, 1R, 2H)
