FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Whitworth University stayed alive at the 2025 Northwest Conference baseball tournament on Friday with a 7-3 win over Linfield in an elimination game at Pacific University's Chuck Bafaro Stadium.
The Pirates (26-16) advance to play the loser of this afternoon's winner's bracket game between Pacific and Puget Sound tonight at approximately 5:00 pm.
In a matchup of first team All-Northwest Conference pitchers, Whitworth kept its hopes alive by knocking off the Wildcats and 2025 Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Year Jake Swenson.
Linfield got on the board with two runs in the top of the second inning. Marco Santulli came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. His bouncing ground ball got through under the glove of shortstop Spencer Shipman, allowing Tyler Marr and Luke Porter to score. Marr finished the game 4 for 4 at the plate.
Aidan Morrison drilled a home run to left field in the bottom of the second to cut the margin in half. It was his fifth of the season.
The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead, taking advantage of a Linfield error at second base. The Pirates had runners at the corners with one out and Ty Komoda's ground ball to third looked like it could be an inning-ending double play. But the throw to second base was dropped, allowing Dominic Giusti to score the tying run. After Caleb Gray reached on an infield single, Carson Coffield followed with a sacrifice fly and Shipman added an RBI single for a 4-2 lead.
Whitworth poured it on against Swenson in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs. Kevin Corder led off with a double and was sacrificed to third base. Giusti singled home Corder. After NWC Player of the Year Kyle Memarian flied out, Komoda doubled to left putting runners on second and third. Gray doubled to right to drive in Giusti and Komoda for a 7-2 lead.
Linfield had a chance to come back in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff single, Quentin O'Connor replaced Dylan Huntsman on the mound and immediately gave up a double and a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 7-3. A walk and infield single then loaded the bases with only one out, but O'Connor settled down and struck out Porter and Josh Mansur in consecutive at-bats.
O'Connor struck out Porter to end the game with two runners on base.
Huntsman (5-2) allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits over six-plus innings to get the win. O'Connor threw the final three innings for his first save of the season.
Swenson (6-5) suffered his second loss of the season to the Pirates. He was tagged for six runs on ten hits in 4.2 innings.
Gray went 3 for 5, while Memarian and Morrison had two hits apiece to lead Whitworth offensively.
