SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth baseball team will step outside of Northwest Conference play this weekend when the Pirates travel to Ellensburg, Washington for a four-game non-conference series at Central Washington University. The teams will play two doubleheaders, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each day will start at noon and the second game of each twinbill is scheduled for seven innings.
Check the Whitworth baseball schedule for live links to his week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (22-11 overall, 13-8 NWC) moved into a tie for first place in the Northwest Conference standings by sweeping Pacific Lutheran in the Bucs' final home series of the 2025 season. It was the Pirates' first sweep of a conference series this season.
Whitworth won the opener 5-3 and for the second week in a row it was a late home run off the bat of Carson Coffield that made the difference. Coffield's two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth broke a 3-3 tie. He finished 2 for 4 in the game, including a double. Spencer Shipman also homered in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 3-3. AJ Woodward started for the Bucs and allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in seven innings, but did not factor into the decision. Seth Mahler (2-1) got the win by throwing two innings of perfect relief.
Whitworth appeared on the way to an easy victory in the second game, leading 11-1 heading into the ninth inning before PLU scored six late runs. Starting pitcher Dylan Huntsman improved to 3-2 with seven strong innings. He allowed only one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts, earning Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. Brock Molenda went 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Pirates. Kyle Memarian and Coffield hit home runs in the game. Ty Quiggle had a two-run double as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning.
The Pirates used a seven-run third inning to build the cushion they needed to win the series final 13-10. PLU scored four runs in the ninth inning and had the tying run at the plate before Mahler got the final out to secure the win. Quentin O'Connor (6-3) picked up the pitching victory as the starter after giving up four runs on seven hits in six innings with four strikeouts. Coffield and Shipman drove in three runs apiece, including Shipman's second home run of the series. Kevin Corder had two hits and scored two runs.
Huntsman Honored: The NWC selected Dylan Huntsman as the baseball pitcher of the week for his performance in the second game against PLU. The Pirates had an 8-1 lead when he left the game after seven innings of work. He allowed only four hits and two walks while striking out five batters.
Huntsman is only the latest Pirate, and third starting pitcher, recognized by the NWC this season. Quentin O'Connor (Feb. 17) and AJ Woodward (March 17) have also been named the pitcher of the week. Whitworth is the only conference school with three different starting pitchers winning the award this season. Caleb Gray has been selected for the position player of the week award twice (March 3 and March 24), while Kyle Memarian earned the position player award on April 7th.
NWC Standings Update: Thanks to last weekend's sweep, Whitworth is now tied with Pacific University for first place in the conference, each with a 13-8 record with one league series left on the schedule. Pacific will finish its conference schedule this weekend at home against George Fox. Puget Sound (11-8 NWC) is in third place with Linfield (10-8) in fourth position. Whitman and Lewis & Clark (9-9) are one game behind Linfield. The top four teams will qualify for the 2025 NWC tournament.
Getting it done at the plate: Whitworth leads the NWC and ranks among the top 25 in NCAA Division III in several key offensive categories. The Pirates lead the conference in batting average (.322), home runs (43 – 12th in Div. III), home runs per game (1.30 – 13th), on-base percentage (.421), runs (308 – 21st), scoring average (9.3 – 19th) and slugging percentage (.513 – 15th). They also lead the lead in hits (360), doubles (64) and triples (10).
Individually, Kyle Memarian leads the Northwest Conference in batting average (.407). Caleb Gray leads the conference in hits (48) and total bases (86). Carson Coffield is second in the conference in runs batted in (47 – 19th in DIII) and fourth in home runs (10). Austin Paul is first in the NWC in walks per game (.930) and second in total walks (26).
Getting it done on the field: Whitworth is not just lighting it up with the bats. The Pirates are tied for first in the NWC and 14th in Division III in fielding percentage (.973). The Bucs are also second in the conference in double plays turned (25).
Individually, Quentin O'Connor leads the NWC in fewest walks per nine innings (0.89 – 15th in Division III), walks to strikeout ratio (7.0 – 20th) and in complete games (2).
The Opponents: Central Washington University is a member of NCAA Division II and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Pirates have already played one GNAC school this season – Saint Martin's University. The Wildcats come into the weekend 19-21 overall and 13-15 in the GNAC. They have a team batting average of .304, team ERA of .701 and a team fielding percentage of .952.
Senior utility man Brandham Ponce leads the league in home runs (17), RBIs (56) and slugging average (.803). He has a batting average of .382 with 11 doubles and has started all 40 games. He has also been a starting pitcher for CWU with a 3-3 record. Senior RHP Jonathan Garza leads the pitching staff with a 4-2 record and a 5.72 ERA. He has 56 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched.
Whitworth has not played the Wildcats since the 2015 season when the teams split a doubleheader in Ellensburg. CWU was a long-time baseball rival of the Pirates when both schools were members of the NAIA from the 1950's into the 1990's.
Scoring in Bunches: Heading into the 2025 season Whitworth had scored 20 or more runs in a single game only five times since the 2000 season. The Pirates have done it three times this spring. The Bucs scored 23 runs twice in one series at the University of Redlands on Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, then scored 21 against George Fox on March 22.
The Coach: CJ Perry is now in his eighth season as the Pirates head coach and has a record of 142-145 in his tenure. He's led Whitworth to the NWC Tournament in three of his seven seasons and has a tournament record of 5-6. In 2019, coach Perry was named NWC Coach of the Year after guiding the Pirates to a 19-5 conference record (27-15 overall) and NWC regular season title. Perry is a Spokane native and graduated from Whitworth University in 2012.
Looking ahead: The Pirates will finish out the regular season with a three-game series at Whitman College on May 3-4.
