SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth baseball team celebrated the first true home games of the 2026 season by pounding out 38 runs in a sweep of visiting Pacific University in a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Merkel Field.
Kyle Memarian went 5 for 5 at the plate to lead the Pirates to a 15-6 win in the opener. Carson Coffield hit two home runs to pace a 23-11 win in the nightcap. Austin Paul drove in nine runs over the two games to help Whitworth (14-11 overall, 9-1 NWC) win its eighth straight game heading into Sunday's series finale against the Boxers (6-17, 3-8).
Game 1- Whitworth 15, Pacific 6
Memarian hit a home run and doubled as part of his 5 for 5 game and reached base six times after getting hit by a pitch in his final at-bat. Memarian scored four runs and drove in two for the Bucs.
Whitworth took a 4-0 lead before the Boxers got within 4-3. The Pirates went back ahead by four runs (7-3) before Pacific pulled within 7-6 in the top of the seventh. Memarian's two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh added more breathing room and the Pirates put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Caleb Gray went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, including a two-run double. Austin Paul only had one hit, but he scored three times and drove in three runs. Nate Gray Jr. went 3 for 4 with two runs scored.
Will Shelor, Hunter Nishina and Max Finkelstein all had two hits apiece for Pacific.
Dillon Hartman improved to 4-1 on the mound for Whitworth after giving up three runs on six hits in 5.0 innings. He struck out five and walked four. Rylen Blair allowed three runs in two innings of relief before Lucas Stutesman finished up with two perfect innings pitched.
Starter Nicholas Saelens (2-2) took the loss for the Boxers by allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and six walks in 5.2 innings.
Game 2 – Whitworth 23, Pacific 11
Coffield homered twice to power the Pirates to a season-high 23 runs.
The Boxers took a 5-0 lead in the second inning, including a two-run double by Shelor, who is the conference's leading hitter so far this season.
The lead didn't last long as Whitworth answered with an eight-run second inning, capped by Coffield's three-run shot to left. The Pirates added five more in the third, capped by Coffield's two-run shot, for a 13-5 lead.
After Pacific got within13-9 on a grand slam off the bat of Javin Hamura, Whitworth scored eight in the bottom of the fifth for a 21-9 lead. Paul had a bases-loaded triple in the rally.
Coffield finished 3 for 5 with six RBIs and three runs scored. He now leads the NWC with 29 RBIs this season. Paul finished 3 for 3 with six RBIs and three runs scored.
Dylan Huntsman started on the mound for the Bucs but did not get a decision after he gave up five runs on nine hits in three innings. Three Pirates followed in relief. Including a three-inning stint by winner Tyler Disch (1-0, one run allowed) and two from Zach Wright (one run allowed).
Governor Aufranc (1-6) allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 10 hits and a walk to take the pitching loss for Pacific.
