SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth baseball completed a three-game Northwest Conference sweep of visiting Whitman College with a 10-2 win in the final regular season game of 2026 season on Sunday afternoon at Merkel Field.
With the sweep, the Pirates (26-14 overall, 20-4 NWC) are the first NWC team since Linfield in 2014 to reach 20 conference wins in a season, aside from the 2021 season in which each school played 32 conference contests. The Blues finished their season 14-25-1 and 8-16 in the NWC.
Carson Coffield, one of 12 Whitworth seniors honored prior to first pitch, led the charge offensively for the Bucs, going 3 for 4 at the plate with a walk, double, home run and five RBIs. Half of the Pirates' runs in the game were unearned as Whitman struggled defensively, accumulating seven errors.
Nate Gray Jr. got Whitworth on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Dominic Giusti. A pair of two-run homers in the next two innings, one from Coffield and one from Giusti, put the Pirates up 5-0 through three frames.
The Blues pushed a run across the plate in the fifth on an RBI base hit from Luke Malzewski. Coffield answered back in the bottom half with a two-run single to center. Gray Jr. followed with a hit and an error allowed Coffield to score.
Malzewski batted in his second run of the game with an RBI double in the sixth, but again Whitworth extended its lead. Caleb Gray hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame and Coffield capped the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth.
Nathaniel Kurano (6-3) earned the win in the five-inning start. He allowed seven hits, one run, one walk and struck out four. Luke Stutesman allowed a run in two innings of relief. Tyler Disch and Owen Schneider pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively.
Coffield led the Pirates at the plate with three hits and two runs scored. Kyle Memarian made his case for back-to-back offense player of the year honors with two hits, a walk, two runs and three of Whitworth's 11 stolen bases.
Dylan Colvin (0-4) took the loss for Whitman, allowing one run (unearned) in two innings. Six relievers followed, with Garen Geoghegen being the most effective with four strikeouts in the final two innings.
The first three hitters in the Blues' lineup each tallied a pair of hits. Braydon Olson went 3 for 3 with two runs to lead Whitman, who had three more hits than Whitworth, at the plate.
The Pirate squad will return to Merkel Field next weekend to host the 2026 Northwest Conference baseball tournament. Check the baseball schedule page for game times, opponents, and ticket information.
