SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth will play its final non-conference baseball series of the regular season this weekend when the Pirates take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a four-game set on the campus of Azusa Pacific University. The teams will play a single game on Friday (2:30), a doubleheader on Saturday (11:00 am) and a final game on Sunday (11:00 am).
Check the Whitworth baseball schedule for live links to his week's games.
Watch on FloCollege: Like the rest of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth's home athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $116 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Pirates: Whitworth (6-8 overall, 2-1 NWC) won two of three games in its first Northwest Conference series at Puget Sound last weekend.
The Pirates opened the series with a 10-2 win, scoring nine unanswered runs after trailing 2-1 through four frames. Ty Komoda went 2-3 with a three-run home run, while Caleb Gray got the Pirates on the board with a solo shot in the first inning. Nate Gray Jr. tied the game in the fifth with his first home run of the season and finished 3 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs. Dillon Hartman (1-0) got his first pitching victory of the season with six strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Luke Stutesman came into the game with the Bucs ahead 6-2 in the seventh, getting a save for tossing three scoreless innings and allowing only one hit and a hit-batter.
Whitworth trailed 6-0 in the second game before getting within 6-4 on the way to a 7-4 setback. Komoda hit his second home run of the day and finished with two RBIs. Carson Coffield had an RBI double. Dylan Huntsman (1-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in 4.0 innings. Three Pirates followed in relief, including Luke Nikunen who tossed two innings and allowed only one run.
Whitworth jumped to a 7-2 lead in Sunday's series finale and held on for a 7-5 win. Caleb Gray drilled his second home run of the series and fourth of the season, while Kyle Memarian got his first home run of the spring. Junior Garcia went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Defensively, the Pirates turned a pair of double plays and did not commit an error. Nathaniel Kurano (2-1) got the win after giving up four runs on five hits in 5.2 innings. Seth Mahler threw the final 3.1 frames and allowed one run on four hits to earn the save.
Senior 1B Carson Coffield is off to a hot start offensively. He is hitting .386, leading the team in runs batted in (14). Senior IF Kyle Memarian, the 2025 Northwest Conference Player of the Year, is batting .319, leading the Bucs in runs scored (15). Caleb Gray is tied for the NWC lead with four home runs this season.
The Opponents: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the SCIAC. The Stags are ranked 13th in the D3baseball.com top 25 poll and ranked 12th in the ABCA Division III coaches poll. They are hitting .311 as a team.
Jett Shue, a graduate infielder, is hitting .389 with two home runs, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored. He has four stolen bases in five attempts. Senior RHP Kody Perry has been nothing short of dominant with a 3-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in 19 innings with 23 strikeouts and only four walks.
Whitworth and CMS played a three-game series in Spokane in April of 2024 and the Pirates won two of the three contests.
The Stags are playing all their "home" games away from campus in 2026 while a new field is being constructed.
Pirates Picked First: Whitworth is picked atop the 2026 NWC preseason coaches poll. The Pirates return several key pieces from 2025 when they finished second in the regular season standings before winning the NWC tournament. Whitworth picked up seven of nine possible first place votes and 63 total points in the poll. Defending regular season champion Pacific (Ore.) is second with one first place vote and 54 points, while Puget Sound is third with a first place vote and 45 points.
The Coach: CJ Perry is now in his ninth season as the Pirates head coach and has a record of 149-152 through the 2025 schedule. He's led Whitworth to the NWC Tournament in four of his eight seasons, including a tournament championship in 2025. 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 return home to host Lewis & Clark in the first home set of the season on March 14-15.
