SPOKANE, Wash. –Whitworth University is headed to the Montclair, N.J. Division III baseball regional this weekend. The Pirates will take on the host Red Hawks in the first round on Friday at 11:30 am Pacific time / 2:30 pm Eastern time. Whitworth is making its second straight NCAA Division III tournament appearance and fifth overall.
Check the Whitworth baseball schedule for live links to this week's games.
NCAA Regional Information: Montclair State will host the four-team regional May 18-20 at Yogi Berra Stadium. The other two schools are Endicott College from Beverly, Massachusetts and Husson University from Bangor, Maine. Following the two first round games on Friday, the two losing teams will meet early on Saturday (game three) before the two winning teams match up in game four. Saturday's game three winner will meet the game four loser in the final contest of the day (game 5). The survivor from Saturday's game five advances to play the game four winner on Sunday.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate only and are cash only. All seating is general admission. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for children/students for each day.
NWC Tournament Info: Typically a double-elimination event, the 2026 version of the NWC baseball tournament was single elimination because two of the participating schools had graduation ceremonies last weekend.
Second-seeded Linfield came back from a 6-0 deficit to defeat third-seeded Lewis & Clark 8-7 in a walk off in the tournament's opening game.
Top-seeded Whitworth defeated fourth-seeded Puget Sound 6-0 in the second semifinal. Nathaniel Kurano (7-3) threw eight dominant innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out eight Loggers. NWC Player of the year Kyle Memarian hit a home run and doubled in another run, finishing 3 for 4 with a walk. Austin Paul also had a pair of hits.
The Pirates defeated Linfield 9-7 in a dramatic championship game. Whitworth scored five runs in the first and led 5-1 before the Wildcats rallied to take a 7-5 lead by scoring four runs in the fourth inning. AJ Woodward came on in relief and held Linfield scoreless for four innings on only two hits. Nate Gray Jr. tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Spencer Shipman drilled a two-run shot to center field in the bottom of the eighth for the winning runs. Seth Mahler threw a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
The Pirates have now won three of the 11 all-time NWC tournaments.
The Pirates: Whitworth (28-14 overall, 20-4 NWC) became the first NWC school to win 20 league games in one season since Linfield finished 21-3 in 2014. The Bucs are listed among "others receiving votes" in the latest ABCA Division III top-30 and are the third-seeded team in the regional.
Over the last three seasons, Whitworth is 85-46 (28-14 so far in 2026, 29-18 in 2025 and 28-14 in 2024), a significant turnaround from the three prior years when the Pirates were 37-80. The school record for wins in one season is 31, set by the 2012 squad.
Whitworth is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2012 the Pirates won the McMinnville, Oregon Regional hosted by Linfield to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton, Wis. They went 1-2 at the finals to finish 31-16-1.
In 2015 Whitworth won the first-ever NWC Tournament to earn the league's automatic bid. The Bucs went 0-2 at the Tyler, Texas Regional.
In 2016 Whitworth earned an at-large bid to its own Spokane Regional, played at Avista Stadium. The Pirates went 1-2 in that tournament.
Whitworth returned to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2025 after winning the NWC Tournament in Forest Grove, Oregon. The Pirates fell to host La Verne 5-1 in the first round and Pomona-Pitzer 10-9 in the elimination game.
Statistically Speaking: Whitworth's team batting average is .295. The Bucs lead the Northwest Conference in home runs with 53 (13th in NCAA Div. III) and in runs scored with 368.
The Pirates' team ERA is 5.55, which ranks second in the NWC, and the team fielding percentage is .969 (third in the NWC and 37th in Division III). Whitworth leads the conference in double plays turned with 36 (25th in Div. III).
Two-time NWC Player of the Year Kyle Memarian is hitting .408 with 13 doubles, ten home runs, 38 RBIs and 61 runs scored as the Pirates' leadoff hitter. He leads the league and ranks 17th in Div. III in runs scored. He also leads the NWC in on-base percentage (.508), slugging % (.707) and OPS (1.215). His batting average is second in the NWC and he is fourth in home runs.
- Carson Coffield has a .324 average and he is third the conference with 43 RBIs and tied for second in runs scored (40).
- Spencer Shipman hits .325 and is third in the league in home runs (11) and second in RBIs (44).
- Caleb Gray is batting .306 and has eight home runs, which is sixth in the league, and he is fifth in the NWC in runs scored (37).
- Austin Paul is hitting 319 to go along with 22 walks and nine hits by pitch for an on-base percentage of .484 (2nd in the NWC).
On the mound, Dillon Hartman leads the NWC with eight pitching victories this season (15th in NCAA Div. III), while Nathaniel Kurano is second with seven (4th in DIII). Seth Mahler leads the league in saves with eight (8th in Div. III).
All-NWC Honors: Seven Pirates and head coach CJ Perry were recognized by the Northwest Conference when the 2026 All-NWC team was released last Friday morning.
Kyle Memarian is the NWC Player of the Year for the second straight season. Spencer Shipman, Caleb Gray and Dillon Hartman also earned first team All-NWC recognition. Nate Gray Jr., Austin Paul and Carson Coffield claimed second team honors. CJ Perry was voted by his peers as the 2026 NWC Coach of the Year for the second time in his nine years as Pirate mentor.
The Regional Field: Montclair State, located in Montclair, New Jersey, is ranked 13th in the latest ABCA DIII poll and has a 30-9 record. The Red Hawks won the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 14-4 record, but were upset in the semifinals of the NJAC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and are the #2 seed in the regional.
Montclair State hits .354 as a team, which ranks fifth in Division III. The team has a 4.29 ERA and a .970 fielding percentage. The Redhawks had three first team All-NJAC players this season. One is senior catcher Zach Stearns, who is hitting .378 with three home runs, nine doubles, 32 RBIs and 43 runs scored. Another is senior IF/DH Matt Kaliske, who bats .347 with five home runs, 12 doubles and 36 RBIs. Sophomore OF Miahcel Wansaw Jr. is hitting .414 with ten doubles and 37 runs scored. First-year right-hand pitcher Chris Matesic is 8-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 57.1 innings pitched.
Whitworth has never played Montclair State, or either of the other two schools, in baseball.
The Other Half: The other half of the bracket features top-seeded Endicott College and fourth-seeded Husson University.
Endicott is 35-9 and ranked 11th in the latest ABCA poll. The Gulls won the Conference of New England with a 17-1 record and then defeated Western New England twice on May 10th to win the CNE tournament. Endicott has a .298 team average and the Gulls rank fourth in all of Division III in both team ERA (2.87) and in team fielding percentage (.977). Senior IF TJ Liponis hits .356 with five home runs, 19 doubles (15th in DIII) with 42 RBIs. Junior OF Brenden Walsh hits .310 with 10 home runs, 10 doubles and 52 RBIs. Senior RHP Brady Stuart is the top starter with a 7-0 record and a 1.40 ERA (fifth in DIII).
Husson is 24-16 coming into the regional. The Eagles won the North Atlantic Conference regular season with a 19-5 mark and defeated Thomas 4-3 in the tournament championship game on May 9th. Husson bats .287 with a 6.22 team ERA and a .968 team fielding percentage. Junior OF Matt Holmes hits .405 with nine home runs, 12 doubles and 56 RBIs. Senior IF Cam Rendell bats .333 with six home runs, six doubles, 32 RBIs and 33 runs scored. First-year C/IF Liam Kelly is hitting .378 with nine doubles and 25 RBIs.
The Coach: CJ Perry is now in his ninth season as the Pirates head coach and has a record of 177-166 through the 2026 NWC Tournament. He's now led Whitworth to the NWC Tournament in five of his nine seasons, including tournament championships in 2025 and 2026. He is now a two-time NWC Coach of the Year (2019 and 2026). Perry is a Spokane native and graduated from Whitworth University in 2012.
