SALEM, Ore. – Whitworth took advantage of three Willamette errors to score seven unearned runs on the way to a 14-4 win over the Bearcats in the opener of a three-game Northwest Conference baseball series on Friday afternoon at Roy Helser Field.
Kyle Memarian, Spencer Shipman and Nate Gray Jr. drove in three runs apiece to help the Pirates (16-11 overall, 11-1 NWC) win their 10th straight game.
Willamette (5-16, 2-8 NWC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by Michon Cole and a two-run double from Trevor Sostman. But then Pirate starting pitcher Dillon Hartman settled and shut down the Bearcats over the next five innings.
The Bucs strung together three hits to tie the game in the third and took the lead in the fourth on Memarian's RBI double. Whitworth added two more in the fifth when Caleb Gray doubled home Carson Coffield and later scored on a ground out by Gray Jr.
The Pirates blew the game open with eight runs in the seventh, getting RBI doubles from Gray Jr. and Ty Komoda and a two-run single from Memarian. Shipman finished off the inning with a three-run home run to center field, his sixth of the season. Thanks to a pair of errors, only four of the runs in the inning were earned.
Hartman improved to 5-1 this season after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks in 6.0 innings. He struck out three batters. Rylen Blair and Zach Wright finished up on the mound.
Memarian, who went 10 for 14 in last weekend's series vs. Pacific, continued his hot hitting by going 3 for 5 with the three RBIs. Shipman finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Nate Gray Jr. was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Steven Verespey (1-3) took the loss for Willamette after he allowed 10 runs (six earned) on 12 hits over 6.2 innings.
After getting swept in 2022 and 2023 on the road, Whitworth won its first game in Salem since 2019. The Pirates and Bearcats will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at noon.
