SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth completed what could prove to be a crucial sweep of a Northwest Conference baseball series with a 7-4 win over visiting Linfield on Sunday afternoon at Merkel Field.
Spencer Shipman hit his NWC-leading 10th home run to help the Pirates improve to 20-13 overall and 15-3 in the NWC. The Wildcats, who came into the weekend in first place by percentage points over the Bucs, fell to 18-12, 10-5 NWC.
After Kyle Memarian led off the game by reaching on a Linfield throwing error, Shipman made Linfield pay by drilling his 10th home run of the season to left field on the first pitch he saw from Wildcat starting pitcher Casey Struckmeier.
Ty Komoda doubled to lead off the second inning and eventually scored on Austin Paul's groundout for a 3-0 lead. Paul added an RBI single in the fourth for another Pirate run. Komoda's two-run single capped a three-run rally in the fifth that broke the game open.
Trailing 7-0, Linfield finally got on the board with Ryan Gullard's RBI double in the seventh. Wyatt Hurley added a two-run home run in the eighth inning. The Pirates gave up an unearned run in the ninth.
Nathaniel Kurano (5-3) threw five scoreless innings to get the win for Whitworth. He scattered six hits and did not walk a batter while striking out four Wildcats.
Struckmeier (1-1) took the loss for Linfield after giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks in 3.2 innings.
Komoda finished the game 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored. He went 6 for 12 in the series with six RBIs. Shipman finished the series 7 for 13 with seven RBIs.
Whitworth has a chance to close in on the 2026 NWC baseball title when the Pirates play a four-game series at Pacific Lutheran next weekend. The first three games will count as NWC contests.
