FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Whitworth University defeated host Pacific University twice on Saturday to complete a stunning run through the losers' bracket all the way to the Northwest Conference baseball tournament championship. Thanks to a pair of clutch pitching performances by freshman, the Pirates defeated the Boxers 8-5 in the first game and 7-1 in the finale to win their first NWC tournament title since 2015.
Whitworth (29-16) also became the first school to win the NWC title after dropping its opening game since Linfield University accomplished the feat in 2017. The second-seeded Bucs fell to Puget Sound 7-6 in 11 innings on Friday before winning four straight loser-out games. Whitworth beat Linfield 7-3 and Puget Sound 7-1 on Friday before pulling off Saturday's doubleheader sweep of Pacific.
"This team was ready for any opportunity that was presented today," said head coach CJ Perry. "There was never a doubt in our dugout that we were going to win because everybody was pulling for one another."
The Pirates earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bucs will find out when and where they will play in next weekend's regional rounds when the field is announced at 9:00 am (PDT) on Monday morning. Whitworth will play in the NCAA tournament for the first time under head coach CJ Perry and for the first time since 2016.
The Boxers (19-20) end 2025 as regular season NWC Champions and runners-up in the conference tournament.
Game 1 – Whitworth 8, Pacific 5
The Pirates fell behind 3-0 before an out was recorded in the bottom of the first inning, but first-year pitcher Nathaniel Kurano came in to throw over six innings of top-notch relief to keep the game from getting away.
The Boxers scored three in the bottom of the first, two on a double by Matt Gibbs and one on a single by Benjamin Lewis that forced the Bucs to replace starting pitcher Luke Stutesman before an out was recorded. Kurano entered the game and immediately induced a double play and got the next batter to ground out to first base.
Pacific added two more runs in the second when Davis Koester drilled a two-run home run for a 5-0 lead.
Whitworth never gave up, despite the fact that Boxer starting pitcher Chance Wallace struck out five of the first seven Pirate batters. The Bucs finally got on the board in the third when they loaded the bases and Aidan Morrison scored when Pacific committed an error at shortstop.
The comeback began in earnest in the fifth. Whitworth again loaded the bases and this time the Bucs took advance when Caleb Gray drilled a two-out double to drive in all three runs. Carson Coffield followed with a single up the middle that scored Gray and suddenly the game was tied and Wallace was out of the game.
The Pirates took the lead in the sixth when Dominic Giusti legged out a fielder's choice to avoid a double play and Kevin Corder scored from third base. Kyle Memarian followed with an RBI single to score Giusti for a 7-5 lead.
Whitworth added an insurance run in the ninth. With the bases again loaded and one out, Junior Garcia delivered a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Gray from third base.
Kurano (1-1) delivered 6.1 innings of stellar work. The Boxers had the bases loaded in the sixth with two out and Kurano got Gibbs to fly harmlessly to left field. He got his first career win, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
After Kurano retired the first batter of the seventh inning, he was replaced by Tyler Disch who issued two walks. Seth Mahler came into the game and retired the next two Boxer batters. Mahler tossed the final 2.2 innings of the game to record his third save of the season.
Gray finished the game 2 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Coffield was the only other Pirate with two hits.
Wallace went 4.2 innings and allowed five runs on four hits and five walks. Matt Palmateer (1-3) took the loss in relief after allowing two runs on three hits in one inning. William Merriott threw the final 3.1 innings for the Boxers.
Game 2 – Whitworth 7, Pacific 1
Making only his second start of the season, first-year left-hander Rylen Blair threw eight dominant innings to guide the Pirates to the clinching victory.
Blair (2-2) allowed only one run on four hits and three walks. He struck out three Boxers in his most effective outing of the season.
After the first two Pirate batters were retired on one pitch apiece, Gray drilled the third pitch of the game over the left field wall to give the Bucs a quick lead. Whitworth added to that lead in the second when Brock Molenda scored from third on a wild pitch.
The Pirates did not score again until the fifth when two runs came home on an error at second base. Whitworth scored two more in the eighth to pull away. Coffield drove in Giusti with a sacrifice fly. Spencer Shipman followed with an RBI single to drive in Memarian.
Pacific scored its only run off Blair in the eighth on Koester's RBI single with one out. But Blair was able to retire the next two batters on infield pop ups to end the threat.
The Pirates' final run came on another Boxer error at shortstop, allowing Corder to score from third base.
Mahler entered the game in the ninth and retired the side to close out his second win of the day, but not in a save situation.
Whitworth scored its seven runs on only seven hits, taking advantage of Pacific mistakes and ten bases-on-balls. Shipman was the only Pirate with two hits in the game.
Koester started the game on the mound for Pacific and fell to 2-3 after the Pirates scored four runs (two earned) on four hits and six walks against him in five innings. Isaiah Hirsch (two runs, two innings) and Trent Nagamine (one run, two innings) followed in relief.
