WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitworth scored eight runs of its nine runs with two outs and Conner Ashworth tossed 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to lift the Pirates to a 9-6 win over top-seeded Whitman on Saturday night at the Northwest Conference baseball tournament.
Third-seeded Whitworth (28-13) advances to Sunday's championship round against second-seeded Willamette at noon. If the Pirates win that, the "if necessary" game will follow at 3:30 pm. The Bucs will have to win twice to claim the tournament title. Whitman's season ends at 27-16 after suffering its second loss on Saturday.
The Blues jumped ahead in the second inning with four runs. Sam Mieskowski-Lapping followed a walk and hit batter with a three-run home run to left, Whitman's first hit of the game. After another hit by pitch and a wild pitch, Beck Maguire added an RBI single.
Whitworth got two back in the top of the third, beginning with Elijah Tanner's two-out RBI double that scored Austin Paul. After Spencer Shipman reached on an error, Ty Quiggle followed with a single that scored Tanner, cutting the deficit in half.
Whitworth went ahead with another two-out rally in the fourth that also took advantage of shaky Whitman defense. After the first two batters were out, Kevin Corder, Paul and Aiden Morrison connected on consecutive singles to score Corder and get the Bucs within one. Tanner followed with an infield single that seemed like it would load the bases, but a throw behind Paul at third base got away and went into the Whitman dugout for a two-base throwing error, allowing Paul and Morrison to score the go-ahead runs. Then with runners at second and third, a pick-off attempt by the catcher went into left field, allowing Tanner to score from third and Shipman from second for a 7-4 lead.
Whitman got two back in the bottom of the fourth after loading the bases with no one out. Garrett Runyan had an infield single and Brandon Ting followed with a sacrifice fly to right-center, which was a lunging catch by Pirate center fielder Dominic Giusti. Reliever Dylan Huntsman got the next two batters to pop out to end the threat.
Whitworth went up 8-6 in the seventh on Henry Zaske's RBI single that scored Shipman. Tanner's third two-out hit of the game in the eighth drove home Corder to reestablish a three-run lead at 9-6.
The Blues were able to load the bases in the ninth, but Tyler VanCise struck out Nick Teng for a one-out save.
Ashworth (3-0), who had also appeared in Saturday's win over Pacific (Ore.), was the difference after allowing only two hits and two walks in his 4.2 innings of work. He struck out five Blues while earning the win in relief.
Tanner finished 3-5 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored.
Jack Leary started on the mound for Whitworth and went two innings, giving up four runs. Huntsman allowed two runs in his two innings of work. VanCise's save was his team-leading fifth of the season.
Matteus Connaway (5-6) started for Whitman and allowed seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. Russell Petersen came next and allowed only one runs on three hits in 3.1 innings. Rylan Burigsay finished up with the final two innings, giving up one run on three hits.
